Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Family Night at Sandhills Community Church

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Just a few pictures from family night at Sandhills Community Church. The event was the kick off to the Home Run Campaign to pay off the mortgage of the church building. A great time was had by all four of "my" kids. :-)
DJ beetle battling a new church friend.
 B's pitch that dunked Pastor Jeff
 DJ in line to play a game.
 Eating snacks waiting on the worship service to start. I think this was B's first time in the main sanctuary  It was DJ's second. He says the only part about the adult room that is better than SandKids is the light system.
 Natalie and T.

 B won one of the door prizes, it had Baby Ruth's and a few other baseball themed items.

A great time was had by all who went! If you are in Columbia, please come out and join us at Sandhills! Services are at 9:30 and 11:00 each Sunday morning. There is a great kids program for kids up to fifth grade, and I think they will take them in the nursery at 3 months. 

Why I love my FitBit

Here is one of the many reasons why I love my FitBit so much. The Weekly Stats that they send out each Tuesday Morning (or at least mine come on Tuesday, but I might have set it up on a Tuesday, so your day may vary).
 
With this email, it means I don't have to personally keep up with my weekly counts on paper, nor do I have to go into my FitBit Dashboard and look.
 
As you can see I am in third place compared to two of my friends that have FitBits. This information keeps me motivated to "outstep" them, which hasn't happened yet, but I have moved up my friendship leaderboard.
 
Ok I am off on the fifth grade field trip to Starbase Swamp Fox! :-)
 
 
 
Hi Patty, here are your weekly stats.
4/22/2013 to 4/28/2013
WEEK'S MOST ACTIVE DAY
Thu, Apr 25
WEEK'S LEAST ACTIVE DAY
Sun, Apr 28
TOTAL STEPS
108,269
DAILY AVERAGE
15,467 steps
BEST DAY
21,126 steps
TOTAL DISTANCE
46.91 miles
DAILY AVERAGE
6.70 miles
BEST DAY
9.54 miles
TOTAL FLOORS CLIMBED
109
DAILY AVERAGE
16 floors
BEST DAY
35 floors
TOTAL CALS BURNED
16,654
DAILY AVERAGE
2,379 cals
BEST DAY
2,566 cals
WEIGHT CHANGE
0.0 lb
LIGHTEST
165.0 lb
HEAVIEST
165.0 lb
AVG SLEEP DURATION
6 hrs 37 min
AVG TIMES AWAKENED
18
AVG TIME TO FALL ASLEEP
0hrs 4min
Last week's step winners
1 Pam
148,324 steps
2 June Bug
141,044 steps
3 Patty
108,269 steps
See current leaderboard
Last week's badges
See all of my badges
What's the buzz?
You're receiving this newsletter because you signed up for a Weekly Progress Summary.
Not interested anymore? Unsubscribe. Fitbit and the Fitbit Logo are registered trademarks of
Fitbit, Inc. Fitbit, Inc. - 150 Spear Street San Francisco, CA 94105.
PS I am in no way compensated to brag on my FitBit. I bought mine fair and square last May. It's been replaced by FitBit customer service once due to a hardware upgrade malfunction, but since then it has worked like a charm! And when that happened, they replaced it without for free, I didn't even have to send them back the broken one!

Monday, April 29, 2013

Music At Sandhills

Fridays in April and part of May, the Villages At Sandhill are sponsoring Music at Sandhills. This past Friday was the first time I remembered about it. :-) 
This Friday the band was Fantasy, and let me tell you they were really good. 

DJ enjoyed the kids activities, which were free! 




I think the balloon man had the longest line. We just talked to his parrot. 


Hopefully the weather will be nice this coming Friday so we can go out again! 




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A Mixed Review Kind of a Day

Have you ever had one of those days, where you feel like giving it mixed reviews?

Yep, me too!

Today was one of those days, that is for sure! Asked to attend a field trip, police car ride, and stress...

It started off just fine. I woke up on time, got out the door on time, heck even made it to work on time. (I like Mondays, because that is the one day of the week that I don't have to fight graduation or family day traffic to get to work!)

Then it got better. Our fifth graders are participating in Starbase Swamp Fox  this week. I told the one teacher that I was jealous and wanted to go, and she said to go see Dr. J, who I was going to go see any way (I have 10, 5th graders, that receive my services in some way or fashion, so I am in one room or another at least once a day.)
I went into Dr. J's room, and the guest speaker is talking to the kids about force and motion, drag, friction, all sorts of cool rocket stuff. I listen for a few minutes, Dr. J says hi, and then I teasingly tell him that I am jealous about their trip.
 Dr. J looked at me and said "Really?" (Now mind you I am at a totally new school, in a totally new :"district" so they don't know about my NASATweetup STS-135 adventure.)
Then he tells me that he is an adult short for his class, and that it would be great if I could be that adult, and proceeds to send me to talk to Mrs. C (the principal), and tells me exactly what to tell her. Mrs. C agrees that it is a good idea for me to go, so I am getting to go on a field trip!

Then this afternoon, the primary school had walking field trips to the big community center on post. We have a big concert on Thursday night, and the kids needed to see what it looked like and the teachers needed to see the layout with the kids there. It was an all hands on deck experience, thats for sure! We took the kids in shifts, kinder went first, then first grade headed up as kinder was headed back. Kinder has aides so they didn't need the extra bodies, as the aides went with them.

Here comes the bad....
With the first graders I took up the tail end of the group, and had one of our challenges walking with me. Let's just leave it at that, student A was a challenge the entire walk. Enough of a challenge to where Mr. P, our principal told him and another student that they were no longer welcome to perform on Thursday, and he was sending them back to school.
Since we had to cross the road to get to the community center we had a police escort stopping traffic. The police officer offered to drive the two boys back to the school. Ms. L and I rode along with them, hence the first police car ride. (Bet you thought I was in trouble, didn't you? You can be honest!)
Then I turned around and walked the second graders up to the community center, and turned around from there and brought the first graders back to school! (My +Fitbit step count rocked today!) Once we got the first graders back to school, Mr. P and I hopped back in the police car for a ride back to the community center in order to walk the second graders back to school for dismissal.
So nothing super bad, just could have been better.

Now the Ugly...
Just STRESS! Nothing that I can't handle, but things that people seem to think I am a stay at home mom, with nothing better to do than do what they think they need NOW done. Not to mention being a "for now" single mom with Jerry gone. I wish that I would have known more about our housing association before deciding to rent here, because some of it deals with them. Again nothing that I can't handle, just that I have to handle it after work, and they don't get it. Right now I'm not thinking its enough of a pia to try and move when our lease is up, but I may change my attitude about that come the fall.

Oh well, tomorrow is going to be a better day, I know it will.
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Sunday, April 28, 2013

What a crazy busy weekend!

I just looked at the clock and realized that it is after six on Sunday! Where did the weekend go?

We were busy from the moment I got off on Friday and I feel like I am sitting down for the first time right now. I know that's not quite the truth, but that's about how it feels. Today is my lowest step count day, and I need to go remedy that before it gets too dark!

According to my FitBit, Friday I was over 15,000 steps and that was without walking between schools like I normally do. (By the way I am getting one of the kindergarten aides to start walking with me in the afternoons!) Saturday was over 17,000 steps without even trying.  Not too many flights of stairs either day, but I am not complaining about that, I am sure I will make up for it some time this week. Heck for the week I am over 46 miles. :-) Best step count in a long time.

Let me tell you though, this was my weekend for crappy customer service!

Friday night we went to dinner at The Villages at Sandhill and then hung around for the Music at Sandhill night. We had dinner at Wild Wing Cafe, and were basically ignored by the waitress. I had to physically get up and ask for silverware after our food came, and as far a refills went, that didn't happen! I could have understood it if they were busy, but it was still early and there were as many empty seats as full in there.
The music during Music at Sandhills was good, and DJ really enjoyed the free kids activities. I hope to make it out there again this coming Friday for that. Probably wont go for dinner though!

Saturday we got up early and went to Belk's Charity sale, got DJ some summer clothes, Natalie a dress and a shirt.

After getting some breakfast, we went to Lowes and Petsmart to get an invisible fence for the dogs... they keep escaping. They got spoiled in Georgia being able to have the run of our 10 acres. Then we came home and installed it (for the most part, there were parts we had to fix today, because our guide at Petsmart, was a little off on how to do it, thank goodness for Google!)

When we were ready for a break, we went to the Sparkleberry Country Fair. We walked around looking at all of the animals, booths, tractors, and people, before letting DJ play a couple of the rigged games. I'm a mean mom and only let him play the ones that say win a prize every time. I know they cost a little more that way, but at least he gets to do something.

About 4:30 it was time to head to Sandhills Community Church for the Home Run Campaign family night. The church is wanting to refinance the mortgage on the church building and Saturday hosted a big family night, with food, games, bouncy things, a dunk tank (to dunk the pastors), and then a time of worship. For us it was a chance to meet more of the people that go to our new church, and enjoy being together. T (Natalie's boyfriend) and his brother have been going to church with us, and joined us last night for that, and B won one of the door prizes.

Natalie and I then went to Petsmart to see about getting more wire for the fence. Once again horrible customer service. I asked a girl if she would send someone to help me at the invisible fences, and she said sure, and walked off. Ten minutes later, still no help. So Natalie went and asked, and the girl told her, well I told them to come. Really snooty like. Needless to say we ended up going to Home Depot to get the extra wire we needed. (Trust me though Petsmart made a killing off of the Cleveland family this weekend!)

Sunday dawned way to early for me this morning, let me tell you! We got up and went to the early service, we like that one because it isn't quite as busy, and when we get done we have all afternoon to do what we need to do. In case I haven't shared, we really like our church! DJ loves Sandkids (children's services) and I do too, because it means he is in there learning about God in his way, and we are in the main service learning about God in our way. Pastor Jeff makes the Bible so easy to understand, and he doesn't sugar coat what things mean either, unlike some pastors out there.

After church I wanted to go to The British Bulldog Pub for lunch. I have wanted to go, since last Sunday when I learned about it. Really I wanted to go Friday, but then was too tired to drive over there. T's family joined us both for church and lunch, and we all were really excited about it. Then we got there......

OMG.... SLOW service! Maranda, WK, B, and DJ got there probably 10 minutes before Natalie, T and I did, because I took I77 all the way to I20 instead of cutting across on HWY277. But then it was another 10 minutes before the waitress came and got our drink order. And it was all down hill from there! The food was good, the atmosphere was good (Man U. was playing Arsenal on all of the TV's in the place), but the service was lacking, and the manager was just as bad as the waitress. I am so disappointed! :( It's rare that I chalk up a place after only one visit, but I am not sure that we will go back. I felt bad for T and his family, because T and B had a bowling tournament this afternoon, and I am sure they were running late by the time they got back over this direction for it.

After lunch the kids and I went to Fleet Feet Sports, so Natalie and I could get new running shoes. We got there shortly after they opened, which I hear is the key, because once they are busy, you wait a while. Trust me though, the customer service we got was worth it! They measured our feet, watched us walk, chose what support we needed, and then tried several brands of shoes on us to see which ones gave us the support we need, as well as fit the best. If you need good running shoes in South Carolina, I recommend going to them!

We made two quick stops, one at Petsmart over there, as we needed one more collar and the one here was out, and then at Sam's Club for a few things.  Came home, finished working on the invisible fence, (I am pretty proud at how self sufficient Natalie and I were with this project, with Jerry not here! T helped a little bit last night, but not a lot as it was getting dark fast!)

Last project of the weekend, we wrangled all three dogs into the kennel and took them to the Care-A-Van mobile shot clinic for their shots. Poor Ash was over stimulated  by all of the dogs there, he cried and cried. We ended up putting him back into the kennel while we waited in line and I filled out the paperwork. The bigger two just wanted to sniff everyone. Rebel didn't want to get his shots, or maybe just didn't want to with the vet tech. We put a soft muzzle on him to do his shots, because he was pulling so hard away from her and started growling when she tried pulling him closer. He's never bit anyone, but I would have hated for today to be the day. Harley, was pretty well behaved compared to the other two. Right now all three of them are pouting in the back yard, between the fence collars (which I think they are figuring out pretty quick where they can and can't go in the yard with them on) and the trauma of getting shots.

So that was our crazy busy weekend! I hope everyone else had a good weekend too! I have pictures of course and will share them in separate posts later on this week.
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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Ridge View High School Walk for the Invisible Children

Two nights ago, Natalie asked if she could walk with her friend T from Ridge View High School, here in Columbia, to The Villages At Sand Hills. Which is about a 4 mile walk. After looking at her like "Say What?" She explained that there was a group at her school sponsoring the walk and that the money raised was going to support efforts to fight childhood slavery in Africa. (Kony anyone?)

Yesterday I met them at the mall to drop off Natalie's car, and then took them to the high school, and they walked with a large group of kids. I would estimate probably 100 or more students did the walk.

I am proud of all of the students, they are standing up for what is right in the world and working in their own way to put a stop to something that is wrong with this world.

I only got one picture as I didn't have my camera with me, and my phone decided to die after I took the first picture. But you can see Natalie, on her phone and T carrying their sign.

Great job to Ridge View High School for bringing awareness of this problem to the people of North East Columbia!
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

GA ASU Alumni Association: Pat Tillman Foundation Fundraiser: Special OPS Kettlebell Workshop on Monday, May 13th at 7 PM!

North Point Fitness in Roswell, Georgia; is sponsoring a kettle ball workout and donating all of the proceeds to the Pat Tillman Foundation! Check out the information below!

North Point Fitness
2500 Old Alabama Rd
Roswell, Georgia 30076
770-998-9009
 


Special OPS Kettlebell Workshop
 
What you need to know if you are stranded on an island with a Kettlebell!
       
Do YOU Know How to:
 
·       Grab it by the horns, clean, hike, or snatch it? 
·       Build muscle to climb a coconut tree for food? 
·       Get Ripped for a Deserted Island G-String/Thong contest?
I didn't think so! 
So bring your Bad Self, beach towel, and 
coconut water - you're gonna need it!
 
WHEN: Monday, May 13th at 7 PM
 
COST: $20 - All monies will be donated to
THE PAT TILLMAN FOUNDATION
 
 
SIGN UP NOW!  Right NOW!
Butt lifting, ab toning, pec building time is LIMITED!
 
North Point Fitness
2500 Old Alabama Rd
Roswell, Georgia 30076
770-998-9009
 
 
 

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We Are Unstoppable~ Columbia SC Boston Marathon Memorial 5k presented by Fleet Feet

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Over the weekend, the leader of the Columbia Christian Runners Group on Facebook shared a flier about a 5K that Fleet Feet was sponsoring on Monday.
I sent the flier to a couple of my friends, and my friend Aime said she would go with me to run. So after work we drove to her place and changed and then headed over to the Harbison area of Columbia.

The run started at The British Bulldog Pub, which is where Fleet Feet's one running group always starts. I told Natalie that is what I want this weekend for dinner one night. It has all of the traditional British pub food, that smell like "home", after living in the UK for 8 years. If they can make proper fish and chips, I will be a fan for life.


As you can see they had a really good turn out. We were at the British Bulldog Pub, as the starting place, and ran over behind Columbiana Mall, and around a lake.



Aime runs, Patty joggs/walks. So she left me in her dust, but it was fun!



I got turned around on my way back, and ended up in the mall parking lot, so I added about .3 miles to my run, but I still had a decent time.
It was a beautiful evening for a run, and it was a great way to show the Marathoners that we are standing behind them, and running with them.