Summer Begins in Seattle

I'm officially on summer vacation, bitches!

The school year is finally over which means it's time to party.

Well... if partying means kissing baby feet, running sweaty early morning miles, and reading a book (or 10), then I'm a rock star.

This was pretty much all we did yesterday.

Ahh. Now that I'm no longer obliged to bribe kids to love The Great Gatsby for the next 10 weeks, I shall be around these parts a bit more. I've got big plans, oh faithful readers, to overhaul this blog like it's a dilapidated 50's ranch from Flip This House.

Some things on my to-do list:

Update my blog header so, you know, I don't have photos from 2008
Update my blog roll to reflect what I'm actually reading these days
Introduce some new features re: MCM training, parenting

Okay, so really this means I'm just going to paint the wood paneling and get new fixtures for the bathrooms, so don't expect anything super awesome. It'll be just enough to make you "ooh" and "ahh" but when you dig down you'll realize things are really just the same.

While taking an impromptu blogcation these last few days(?) weeks(?), I realized I kind of liked the freedom from the keyboard. For a while there, I felt pressured to keep up with the blog, but I didn't know what to write.

So, going forward, I'm just going to write whenever the hell I actually I have things to say. Running will still be a mainstay, but don't be surprised if more parenting posts pop up. No, I won't drone on and on about how effing cute my kid is (although she is pretty awesome), but I will discuss a bunch of other crap having to do with raising a spawn.

There's just too much to say about that to not say any of it.

So, yeah. I look forward to spending the summer with you people. We shall meet during naptimes and in between feedings and it will be glorious.

On to other things, like the Seattle RnR half-marathon on Saturday. A few words on that:

Yes, I'm super excited for my first long distance race since last year's Kalamazoo Marathon. However, I'm probably more excited to spend a long weekend with my baby girl and husband (who, for all of his bazillon visits to Europe, has never been to Seattle)...

and to meet up with blog friends old and new...

and to experience the low-humidity, hipster vibe that is Seattle.

If I'm lucky, I'll get a pat-down from the TSA on the way to our gate on Thursday.

And if I'm really lucky (and feeling good), I'll run a solid 2:00-2:10 race.

My money's on the former.

Happy summer!

How are you kicking off your summer? Vacation? A good book (tell me, I need suggestions)? Eating a bunch of grilled things? Maybe selling lemonade at a stand in your front yard?