The Deer Days of Summer

If you’re in the Midwest, you know it has been hot hot hot these last several days.  I was kind of ticked to discover, however, that my 10k training program doesn’t have a “day off for temps over 90 degrees” option. 😛

So, since Tuesday and Wednesday are my cross-training days, I dutifully rode my bike both days. I won’t say it was for the full 40 minutes suggested…

On Tuesday, we biked to the home of DS#2’s classmate (whose mom is a friend of mine).  It was only a mile away, and we got to see the hole being dug for their new pool (because who doesn’t love a Great Big Hole In The Ground?).

Remember that deer that ran with me for a while on my first-ever run? Well, he seems to have taken up residence in our neighborhood, mostly at my friend’s house.  She’s not sure what to do with it, but they keep feeding it because they feel sorry for him/her, and he/she is becoming quite tame.  Take a look…

 

 

Crazy, huh? I’m talking about my big honkin’ nose in this picture, but yes, the tame deer is crazy, too, I suppose. 😛 When we got home, we were nice and hot, perfect for a dip in the pool. (See, a method to my madness.)

The next night, the kids were less enthusiastic about a bike ride (93 degrees—who could blame them?), but I still wanted to get it in.  So, because I have no shame when it comes to embarrassing myself in front of my neighbors, I biked around my horseshoe driveway about 100 20 times—in my bathing suit, no less.  But when I was done, I jumped in the pool and it felt great!

As the parent of two boys, it’s pretty much a given that I am ready to kill them at any given moment, because they are constantly fighting.  And then, every once in a while, a miracle happens, where they are suddenly so sweet that I want to eat them up with a spoon.  Okay, not really, but I do want to savor the moments, which usually means pictures. Yesterday, DS#1 decided to give DS#2 swimming lessons.  I have no idea what prompted it, but it really warmed my heart.

 

 

 

It was probably good that DS#1 was being so sweet last night, because later we had An Incident.  More on that later.

First, we’ll cover this morning’s run. Still hot as hell here in the middle of our heat wave, as evidenced by this temperature at 5:45am.

 

 

It was hot, but I still ran, and although I did not set a PR with this run, I think having my second-fastest time on a day this hot is cause for celebration.

 

 

 

Wow, look at that second lap—that’s my fastest one-mile pace to date!  Not bad for what I was up against. 🙂

Now, back to The Incident.  Last night, after our time in the pool, I was putting away dishes when I heard a clunk-clunk-clunk noise.  It was coming from the laundry room, which is never a good thing.  It turns out that DS#1’s (almost brand-new) iPod Nano had been rather rudely introduced to my laundering process.

By the time I heard the noise, it was in the dryer.  When confronted, DS#1 admitted he had directly disobeyed both a parental directive AND the daycamp directive of no electronics at camp.  It was in his pocket all day, and he didn’t take it out when he got home.  Needless to say, I was pretty pissed.  We had given him a hand-me-down 1^st generation Nano last year, and he cracked the screen on it right after Christmas.  He worked hard doing chores around the house and managed to earn himself the new one fairly quickly (partly because I am a sucker and kept making up things for him to do so he could get a new one).  However, with this being the second one destroyed in 6 months, I put my foot down last night: I was not buying him a new one.  If he wanted another one, he’d have to get the money from a bank account OTHER than mine.

Still, it bothered me, and not just because he disobeyed the rules, but because, well…I just really hate to see my son upset, and he was quite sad to lose his treasured iPod.  Not to mention, I am a techno-geek, and it bothers me greatly when cool technology is hurt.  It bothered me to the point where it put a real damper on my night and even on my run this morning.  It’s the first thing I thought of when I woke up, and I continued to ponder it on my run.  I think I want the Nano back almost as much as he does!

I started asking around, and a few friends suggested what I guess is a pretty common trick—rice.  They say it can suck the moisture out pretty well when done correctly.  So, here’s what’s going to be on our counter for the next few days:

 

 

I will let you know if it works.  I can’t deny that I really, really hope it does, because I fear if it doesn’t, I will cave and find a way for him to “earn” another one.  Because, Lord help me, I am Sucker Mom!

(For the record, he is actually a really good kid, so it’s not like I’m rewarding a hoodlum or anything. 😛 )

I am going away to the Chicagoland area this weekend for a family gathering, which means I get to do my first-ever FIVE MILE RUN away from home.  Wish me luck!  I’ll report back hopefully Sunday night.

Thanks for reading!