Summer is coming...

6.                  Participate in a 5K/10K… and a 1/2 marathon.

Wow, I'm so behind during this month of May-hem that I haven't even hardly posted on April yet.  Late in April I participated with my friend Lisa in the Girls on the Run 5K.  It was really fun.  Except for the part that I looked like a pale ghost pig and Lisa looked tanned and stunningly gorgeous as usual.  I can't stand with her in pictures any more, even though I absolutely love her.  :)

7.                  Lose 10—15 lbs.  Again. 

Can you hear me screaming from here?  I am a great mystery.  I exercise 3-6 times a week, I'm very active, I count my calories, and... ta dah - I've gained weight.  My surgeon says it is because I am about to turn 40.  My wellness consultants think 1) I'm not getting enough sleep and 2) I am not eating ENOUGH.  I think the whole thing is insane.  Makes me want to lay down and eat bon bons and see what happens, but that is way to scary seeing as how all this effort is going in the wrong direction.  Oh well.  I guess the bottom line is just to love yourself, and keep on keeping on.  And you know what, I do.  I have some great assests.  No pun intended.

8.                  Earn a bikini.

On that note, I so wish I could report that I was bikini ready for the summer, but that seems to be increasingly not the plan.  ;)  For one thing, I was at a recent poolside party for a friend, and realized pretty much all my friends are wearing cute, yet age appropriate (read Mom) swimsuits.  And this is not a bad thing.  I am a mom, and as my friend Alison says, "no one wants to see all that at the pool."  My friend Elizabeth gave her nanny money to buy a "family friendly" swimsuit before taking her kids to the pool this summer.  Love it.  Even the PYTs are relegated to wearing something appropriate.  AND - there is nothing like people watching around any pool to realize that honestly, the percentage of people who truly look good in a swimsuit is in about the 1% range, and even most of those are airbrushed.  So, I'll take this off the list of wants for this year.  I'm good.  And I really like my swimsuit.  :) 

Happy almost summer!

The Unagreeable Fish

18.                  Explore cooking.  Then, throw a dinner party.

OMG, thank goodness no one came for a dinner party a few weeks ago when I tried to make fish.  I've had some successful runs with fish in the last year, despite the fact that I don't really care for it.  But - my kids love it, especially Taylor, so I'm trying.  (Thanks "alot" WinShape Camps http://www.winshape.org/camps/welcome/#/welcome/ - while some kids whine about camp food, my kids want me to duplicate it!)

Here's what happened.  I tried to make a real trout.  And by real, I do not mean the fancy boneless kind the man at Publix wraps in paper for me.  I do mean the kind that comes with its head chopped off and its tail woefully left behind.  I called my dad, a former butcher, for advice.  He gave me some tips, particularly that it was okay to hack off that tail if it was bothering me.  So, after rinsing the trout thoroughly - YUCK, I'll just leave it at that - I decided I just could not take looking at the tail.  I decided to take steps to remove it, at which point, all I can tell you is my rinsing was obviously not complete enough.  And then the dry heaves began.  I dry heaved into my sleep that night - I literally woke up at 2 am, dry heaving and thinking about real trout.  Julia Child, forgive me.  GUH - ross.

Suffice to say, we had magnificent hushpuppies and frozen french fries for dinner that night. 

By the way - I need to make one redeeming note here.  I'm actually a decent cook.  I've made a lot of successful meals that I haven't written about - just sayin.'    :)

Painting

11.                  Paint a canvas.  Draw and frame a picture.

I must admit, I bought the supplies for this many months ago, and they have sat in the floor of my office.  But a week or two ago, Bailey and I sat down and she shared some painting time with me.  She took one of the two canvases and we had a really great hour or so together just free painting.  I didn't do anything too artistic or involved, but, I also accomplished this one:

14.                  Listen to my children.

Bailey is a very good artist, and she has learned a lot under the instruction of The Art Chicks, Holly and Lannie.  http://www.theartchicks.net/  As we painted, Bailey taught me some of the tips she has learned from Holly and Lannie.  Turns out my daughter has really been listening!  She taught me about wet paint and cleaning brushes, how to use a hairdryer as a painting tool, and about a hundred other things.  She was beaming as she shared her art skills.  We had a blast, and I learned a lot myself!

Neither of us did our best work, but we had a great time and enjoyed playing around.  Here they are!  Can you guess whose is whose?  ;)