"Your Smiling Face" - James Taylor

Whenever I see "your smiling face"
I have to smile myself
Because I love you (Yes, I do).

Happy Birthday to you my Peanut.

11.

E l e v e n .

Where has the time gone? [I know.  I know.  stunting growth is not recommended]

Peanut.

you. are. my. girl.
you. are. my. favorite.

you are my go to stylist.

My dance teacher.  Yes, thanks to you - I can do a mean robot and a wicked sprinkler.

You are the world's best hugger.

And you know I'm a hugger.

I love to hear you sing, "On My Father's Wings" when we are in the car on a family road trip.  It makes my heart melt [and it makes your Dad drive slower as he fights back the tears.]

You are sensitive [you can thank me later].  You are tender.  You are thoughtful.  You never treat others unkindly.  Never.

When you are in your room with your friends. . . .

I. hear.

I hear things that are being said.  I am and have always been proud of the way you speak to others, treat others, think of others & make others feel comfortable.

I'm proud of the way you speak up for yourself and your beliefs.  You speak up for me.  You are always looking out for your family.

Look how far we've all come this year, nutty!  I'd say . . . . pretty. freaking. far.

and

pretty. f r e a k i n g . amazing.

2011 - will hold many "awesomeness" moments for you and for us as a family.

and. guess. what . . . . ? ? ? . . . .

we've. freaking. got. this.

I love you with all my heart.
To the moon and back . . . . and back.

Love,

your "crazy" Mom.

"Man's Best Friend" - Ice Cube [+ doggie treat giveaway]

So it's no secret.

I'm
not
a
huge
animal
lover.

I came from a family where our average length for keeping a pet [and keeping him/her alive] was about 2 months. 

So  . . . . well when the Pita bought this [sorry] "him" for me . .

. .  . I cried.  No joke.  Then asked, "it's he's returnable, right?"  It's not that I dislike them.  I love other people's dogs.  It's more like I don't enjoy taking care of them [food, poop pick-up, etc].  We travel a lot.  and I greatly un-enjoy having to find a sitter . . . . . . for my dogs?!

Ya, I'm that dog owner who has no idea how old her dogs are. 

Vet:  so how old is Mr. Chuy?
Me:  ummmm, like 3 or 5 ish.
Vet:  you don't know how old your dog is?
Me:  no. but I totally know when I am to pick up my daughter from Summer camp.

[ya, to put it mildly, they were not impressed as I'm sure MANY of you aren't with my dog caretaker skills and or brain skills]

The good news . . . .  They are growing on me.  Kinda literally.  Chuy, for some unknown reason adores me and one day when he is 7 or 10 years old and chills a bit . . . . I know we will be BFF's.

Now Mase.  [my Pitbull]. He's has always rocked.  He's [now] an outside dog [due to my home business].

best. dog. ever.

Trained him like crazy from day one.  Totally. paid. off.

NOW enter Pam and "PUPCAKES".  Pam is awesome.  She works with my sister Shar / "Happy".  [Yes, yes, she's 99.94% happy sister.]

When I went to get the mail Monday.  I found these . . . 

So awesome.  It smelled like pumpkin.  I. was. stoked.

ummmm, then I realized they   . . .

HOLD
the
phone
 . . . . were for my dogs . . . .what?! ;)

It was like freaking Christmas for dogs around here.

[Oh but get this . . . they come in gluten free & regular versions and humans can eat them too. . . .yes, of course, I tried them!]

They. were. off. their. faces.

This is me attempting to put him on a "sit. stay" for the treat.

This is when I caught him trying to run off with it in his mouth to the "no eating here" zone.

Chuy started running in circles.  I must get a video of this for you guys.  I'm quite sure we got the defective dog [can you say mental issues?] but it's so freaking awesome.

So he's running in circles.  Mase is barking something fierce from outside like, "give me some lady!".

See him licking his chomps . . . love it.

He was only a little unimpressed that I had offended him with only giving him three.  "Lady, I need six to make it worth my effort to stand."- Mase

Needless to say - they were a HIT.

They are now gone.

but. Chuy. is. still. freaking. following. me. around.

So

awesome Pam has offered to give two away [one GF & one regular] here on my blog to two lucky readers!

How you enter:

* be a follower
* know how to eat
* tell me why you love your dog, cat, rat or pet scorpion and your "pets" age [heee hee]

AND please call her for more info or if you'd like to order!!

Did I mention, she's freaking awesome?!

Pam:  480.518.7050
             480.710.9586

????????????????????????????????

okay, seriously, do you really know your pets EXACT birthday?

Happy. Hump. Day!

"Under Pressure" - Queen & Davie Bowie

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e.

I'm freaking loving it.

From my new compression socks from Zensah.

a w e s o m e.

Was so excited when they contacted me.

and even more excited when they listed "argyle" as an option.

awwwww. heck. freaking. ya.

I want need the argyle.

You see.....I was a huge lacoste & Izod fan when I was eight. ;)

I sadly dated a few guys who turned up at my door in argyle.  [Dad, why did you let them in?] ;)

But thank goodness they looked more like this:

Than this:

Now on to the socks . . . .

My trusty-dusty photographer Peanut got a few photos pre-run.

Mostly when I'm talking to her.  nice.

Or when I was throwing a treat to the dog to get him away from me.

We did manage one semi-normal photo . . .

What????   I said "semi".

Then it was onto the treadmill.

Firing it up:

And finally - all systems a "go" .

What heel strike?!

I did have to stop once to get a photo of Peanut and her friend who came in to dance to: "The Golden Age" By Fruit when it came on during my run.

Yes, Chris - she has officially taken over my shirt.  How the heck does this happen?
okay.

So 11 miles completed [yesterday's run] -- averaging 7:43 / mile.

I have only ever run in compression socks twice.  I usually use them exclusively for post run. . . . . . but I loved these.

I loved the feel on my arches.

and

I loved that they aren't too thin or too slippery.  I know, weird but I'm used to wearing a bit of a thicker sock so usually when I have tried to wear these during a run [socks by another brand] I feel like my shoes fit too lose?!  But not these.

Anyway.  I loved. them.

And the fact I get to look all preppy and Carlton [Fresh Prince of Bel-Air] like while doing it . . . . . well that's just a huge perk.

Now I just need to find some black running shoes so Idon't look like such a tool.

Do you wear compression socks?

During races? After?  Both?

YAY it's Tuesday!!

Mav's are going to kill the Heat tonight!

"Iron Man" - Ozzy Osbourne

We have a winner.

Kurt @ Becoming An Ironman.

Which.
of course........made me think of the above mentioned song.

So I may have a thing for dirt-head music Ozzy Osbourne.

Email me your address Kurt! [queenofjean [at] gmail [dot] com ]

I'll get this box of goodies out to you!

And

now for the mini-article I read in "sport illustrated".

I. know. I. am. sooooo. grown. up.

But this was hilarious [to the Pita & I].  We were crying we were laughing so hard.

HEADLINE:

"Horse herpes outbreak forces rodeo queens to ride stick ponies."

Sayeth one aspiring teen queen:

"With a stick horse, it's a lot different because you have to do all the work, and I think it's going to be a lot more tiring."

May it be the only time a herpes outbreak darkens your door, brave rodeo queen.

Happy Monday!

"Even A Fool Can See" - Peter Cetera

 . . . . . That 4:27am is a little early to get up on a Friday . . .

I love running early.  but not usually on Friday's.  And not AFTER super fun [late] basketball games the night before. 

But it was a blast at the game last night.

I mean seriously. . . . . the man wears my number in honor of me.  [insert "awwwwww"]

It was the first game of the new "old man" season.

and
boy . . . .

you. could. tell.

Air ball count = eight
cuss words = too many to count
beer bellies = ditto from above
ref beer bellies = one

ref who fell because of their bellies = one

It's soooooooo funny sitting in the stands hearing people talk about the Pita:

"He's tall"    [you are a genius]
"He's probably 6'4""     [haaaaaaaaa, until you stand next to him then he's 6'8"]

"That tall guy has a nice shot"      [duhhh, part of the reason I married him]
"I bet he played in college"      [naaaaaa, wrestling]
"He should have blocked that . . "     Me:  Hey you freak!  That wasn't even remotely by him.  How'd you want him to block it with his go-go-gadget arms? 

reason #4,487 why I should not be allowed to go to a sporting event.  Especially one in which a family member is playing in.

But hey, game one, done [& won].  And the Pita [or his um err family] didn't even get kicked out for bad behavior.  s c o r e !

Thanks to Dawn who let me bug her with these awesome factoids during the game.

We came home to find the Pita's pets out doing their night-time "roam about" .

Let me introduce you:

Here's "largy" - yep, he's large.

Here's "medium" - yes, we are original.

Here's "spot" - well, duh because he has spots. ;)

Side note "extra large" died.

They. are. awesome. right?!

okaaaaaaay.

Creepy.  right?!

so on to tonight.

date. night. YAY!

I found out about it in this super awesome card I got in the mail from the Pita on Wednesday.

Freaking. Loved. it.

I've censored it for Peanut's viewing pleasure.

**REMEMBER TO ENTER MY GIVE-A-WAY [here] **

AND . . . . . .

Also . . . . . please visit this awesome woman's blog to see about your next virtual 5K race.  Enter Now! [click on enter now].  For an amazing cause! 

Happy Friday to ALL!!

"Head Over Heels" - The Go-Go's [Gotein Review]

okay.

So anyone who even kinda sorta knows me . . . . k n o w s . . . . .

I'm. addicted. to. protein. shakes. 

No joke.

I'm pretty sure it's a FULL on addiction.

When we travel on an airplane I get all wigged out if we are not "checking" a bag "in" because that means I can't take my pre-made shakes.  Which makes me have to google where we will be staying to see if there is a Hi-Health [or similar] near by.

drives. the. Pita. nuts.

I'm also not a big fan of breakfast or brunch with the family and or girlfriend because that means I have to look for a way to "sneak in" my protein shake.

Movies ---- I'm usually covered.  I've got a purse that could hold half the contents of my fridge.  However, if I'm going with Peanut . . . . . "there's no room for my crap" AND my purse somehow becomes hers.

Anyway . . . .

Enter the best invention EVER.

Gotein.

Yep.  Like "protein" on the "go".

f r e a k i n g . awesome.

So you can imagine my excitement when I was contacted by them to do a review.

HECK YES!  Sign me up!

Ever since I received these. . . . . it has been pure bliss. 

You see, I hop in the car:

BAM . . . there's my Gotein.

I go to feed my the Pita's scorpions:

[no, do not feed your pet scorpions Gotein.........yes, they'd like it but why share?]

[yes, this is the ugly face that happens when you are trying to tell a 10.98 year old to use a flash while trying to smile].

Share.  SHARE.  s h a r e? ? ?

ugggg.

I did "have to" share with Peanut.

She loved getting her "shake" on.

Even crazier . . . .she loved it!  [which sucks for me] Which is crazy talk because she has HATED every other one she has ever tried.

It has been a [not so little] little joke around my place that I'm a weeeeee bit too excited about this product.

I took them with me all over this week.

Pre-gym.

Post-gym.

on the way to summer camp.

Why the heck not?

Here's how you do it: [info from their website]

"Drink approximately 1/3 of a 16.9 fl. oz water. 

Add complete packet of Gotein to your water bottle, swirl and shake well until completely dissolved and enjoy a tasty, low carb [GFree] shake!

Best to use between 20 to 30 minutes before and after exercise or active sport.

Can also be used 30 to 45 minutes before meals to help curb your hunger."

My favorite:  s t r a w b e r r y .

Each packet is between 100-110 calories.

Contains 5-6 carbs.

Has 16-17g of protein.

So.
now.
come.
June 23rd . . . . .  Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon . . . .

My little TSA friends can kiss my x-ray loving bum.  They may think I'm importing coke but . . . .

And my Pita will be happy we don't have to find the nearest health food store as soon as we land.

What's your "go-to" food addiction?

?   ?   ?   ?   ?

Don't forget to enter my give-a-way [ends Sunday night at midnight]

"Give Me Everything" - Pitbull

GIVE-A-WAY time!

Got a bunch of goodies here for ya to score.

Yes, I will ship to ohhhhhh Canada. 

But first you have to see this photo.  I just found it in my snapfish account and it made me happy.  Mostly because I remember everything leading up to this photo.  And. It.  [NOW]. Makes.  Me. Smile.

Maybe not quite as happy as Caroline made me [but you know she's an angel].  But that's a whole other blog post ---- oh and it's [the blog post] coming on Monday.

FOR TODAY . . . ..

we have a giveaway!

What you will win:

* one highly sought after "RUN EMZ" shirt. [let me know size & with or WITHOUT the word "freaking" ] like Run Emz 1.0 or Run Emz 2.0

* One RoadID certificate [for a bracelet]

* One RoadID hat

* Gu Brew's, Gu & Vemma Thirst[s].  Love these!  They are what I used during my 24 hour run [recovery]

It'll arrive looking something like this:
[but all wadded up in a box]

NOW.

How. do. you. win . . . . . ? ? ? ?

ONE COMMENT FOR EACH!!

1.  Tweet about this giveaway " @runemz is freaking giving away a run emz shirt plus other things that I actually want." [ plus 1]

2.  Post about this on Facebook. [plus 1]

3.  Vote for me on Circle Of Mom's [here] ---- [plus 2] ends today at 5pm.  Include # you bumped me up to! [what I totally trust you ;) ]

4.  Tell me what you'd actually TRY to listen to me talk about [here] in Vegas. [plus 1]

5.  Tell me why you hate or love treadmill running. [plus 1]

6.  Be a follower of this blog. [plus 2].

7.  Tell me if you like pickle juice. [plus 1]

8.  When is it really "hammer time" .....like . . . .  stop.....hammer time.  Seriously.  Tell me. [plus 2].

Winner will be announced Monday June 6th.