26.2 (and then some)

Way way back in October, I decided to join my school's Marathon Kids program. For someone like me, running 26.2 miles over the course of four months is a breeze. I could knock that out in a week, if I had to. 

Today I completed my run. I was handed the shiniest of gold medals as I dashed across the finish line. 

Being in my program meant that we met with other runners on Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school. How lucky we all are that my school is sitting right at the edge of the Town Lake trail (which really has a different name because 1) it isn't even Town Lake anymore and 2) the trail itself is named after some people who donated a lot of money to make it as lovely as it is).

There were too many mornings that I struggled with some issues stemming from being hyper-competitive. Even though I am the youngest runner in my school, I am the fastest; that is not disputed by anyone. The purpose of the program was not to race. ("forget the rest and do your best," our leader would tell us at the start of each run.) But I can't not race. I would run and run and run and get way ahead of everyone . . . always looking back to see who was catching up . . . allowing runners to catch up . . . and then I'd cry. fiercely. We resolved this by practicing our running on other days of the week too, just me and my mom.

We've also made some trips to a nearby track. This allows me the opportunity to practice my sprints though I am probably best suited to being a middle distance runner. My latest goal: to run 100m in less than 9.58 seconds before my next birthday. Wish me luck. I'm close. 

reading

In recent weeks, not only have I been adding numbers together but I have also starting spelling more and more and more words aloud and asking about the spelling of words. Since my mom had seen me read a few words on signs when we go out, and I have been working on the sandpaper letters at school, she knew I could read now - and had been trying to convince me for days that I can. I was skeptical.

When we got home from the library on Tuesday, I was shown the word "bugs" and I read it! Then "pigs." After that, I declared "I really can read."

Yesterday, we worked on more reading and I have mastered the following words:
sat
Sam
Mat
cat
on
sad

my valentines

The days and weeks leading up to Valentine's Day were full of excitement. The week before, I received my ever first homework assignment: to make one card for each of my friends in my class. I took this task seriously and I would go home and paint and draw every day after school. (Note: if you are wondering if my mom stepped in and painted the butterfly or the sunshine, she did not. I did those with a stencil. clever me! The only help I got was with putting my name on each card and cutting them out . . . which turned out to be a huge undertaking.)

The day before Valentine's, we stopped at Whole Foods on our way home from school to fill the water jugs. And to buy everything yummy in sight. And to eat some pizza for lunch. It was in the bakery section that it started to seem like my dad should buy me a cake for Valentine's Day. So we sent him this photo for inspiration, knowing perfectly well that he'd be doing some last-minute shopping for me.

I could hardly sleep the night before Valentine's Day realizing that not only would we have our weekly assembly but also a party! What a day. I didn't even have to do any work (!!!!). These are the cards I received from my sweet friends. They clearly took their homework assignments as seriously as I did.

Now you are probably wondering if I got a cake from my dad.

I DID!

Though it was not a cake from the photo. It is a lovely strawberry cake decorated with a dark chocolate heart covered in sprinkles.

more (non) snow days

In recent weeks, we've had even more snow days with school cancellations and the whole bit. The huge HUGE problem is that they've been canceling school in a preemptive manner, shutting down the entire city  and everything within a 100-mile radius, and then the foul weather fails to materialize. Sure, it's cold but there's been no winter precipitation like everyone is so afraid of around here. These cold spells have alternated with what my mom calls summery days but it's really just typical February. 

Since I am one who needs to spend almost every waking second not cooped up in the house, we have been filling our "snow" days with other activities when I cannot be at school. 

When it was 39 degrees, it seemed like a fantastic idea to join a friend for a picnic of P Terry's veggie burger, milkshake, and french fries. There were few complaints about the cold. 

I have been going to the gym more and more frequently. 

One afternoon when even I thought it was cold, I went shopping with my good best friend at Whole Foods. Now this outing could have gone miserably awry, but somehow it was a success. really?!? We shopped together, pointing out interesting things to look at and talking about what we like and do not like. It turns out we both love fruit, pizza, and organic pink milk. After shopping, we sat for almost two hours and visited. 

snow day

Our weather in recent weeks has been erratic, as is typical for January. Just last week, it was 82 degrees. And then we woke up this morning to a SNOW DAY! 

I was sleeping so very soundly. My mom knew around 4:00am that the entire city would be shut down, including my school. And it was all she could do to keep from waking me up right then since I had so desperately wanted a white Christmas. Instead of letting me sleep late and enjoy a lazy day off, she thought it was far more important to get me up (isn't there some kind of golden rule about never ever waking a child up on his day off?) to go outside as soon as it wasn't completely dark. When I first peeked out the window, I was still dizzy and could only open one eye. One glimpse of the beautiful snow, and I was ready to run outside. 

We went for a walk. The snow was more like solid sheets of ice. It certainly isn't the snow I read about in my books. We saw not one single flake fall from the sky. sad. I kept telling my mom what snow is supposed to be like . . . you know, where it keeps snowing day after day after day and it's fluffy and glowing white and you can build snowmen. This is the best we can hope for here. We enjoyed the snow and the cold for maybe three hours until it was nothing but a slushy mess and I had moved most of the snow around the yard.

Tomorrow it is supposed to be 70 degrees. Sunday will be 75. I prefer snow.

what not to do

When you wake up in the morning and it is 21 degrees, it might seem like the perfect day to accept your good friend's invitation to go ice skating at Whole Foods . . . especially if you are a boy who will strip naked and happily run through the sprinkler when it is in the 40s. (For my Canadian and European friends and everyone else living in every other country in the world sensibly following the Metric system: I do mean Fahrenheit. really.) By the time we got to Whole Foods, it had warmed to 25. The wind was fierce, making it seem far colder. Whole Foods made an unprecedented error by neglecting to have the ticket booth properly staffed. or staffed at all. We waited in line for over 20 minutes before someone was sent up to sell tickets / hand out skates / open the rink. By that time, me, and most other children were frozen solid and psychologically damaged, no doubt. I made it one time around the rink.

As always, pizza was my salvation.

North Pole Flyer, ride three

Today I enjoyed my third annual ride aboard the North Pole Flyer. Worry not, after being subjected to the coach car last year, we were back in the first class lounge where the hot chocolate was flowing freely and I was able to eat more than my weight in candy canes and Christmas cookies. After grouchy Santa visited the passengers, his sweet wife came through to distribute cookies. We had a good chat so I am confident that I am securely on the good list. It stands to reason that Santa's wife is the one running the whole show anyhow. 

The train departs from Cedar Park (better known as the town where Molly had her wedding) and travels to Bertram (wherever that is) and finally to the North Pole. The scenery is always fascinating but even more so this year because of the recent flood. so many grumbled trees! We pass through some industrial areas and I cannot even count how many football fields I saw.