State of the Month Address

OMG. Gotta laugh. Nailed it.
Hawaii: 0 Kim Jong Un: 1

Things have been pretty low key this month, with a few exceptions:

• As most are aware, we had a bit of missile scare recently. For 40 minutes, nearly every Hawaiian resident was terrified that The End was upon us. We were extremely lucky to have all been home when we got the alert, but I know many, many families who were separated, some by a few miles, and some by a few islands. Needless to say, more than a few of those families were sobbing, locked up in their bathrooms, trying desperately to get through to each other when the phone lines weren't down. Nine out of ten Saturdays at 8am, I am out running. Had I been doing so that day and gotten that alert, things would have felt a million times worse- I likely would've tried to hitchhike home, assuming a kind commuter dared to stop while they were racing home themselves. At the end of the day- we're just lucky it was a mistake, and no one was hurt stampeding/racing home. There are a few upsides to the situation- remembering to live in the present, treasuring your family and getting organized.
• On New Years Day, I started painting the area(s) of the house that opted to do ourselves to save some $. Despite painting about 3 hours day for 19 of the last 23 days, I swear, the areas I still need to paint appear to be increasing, not decreasing.Now that I'm paying attention, I have suddenly noticed many, many areas that are still in need attention. This is a little frustrating, but overall- it's given me a sense of purpose. I'm keeping busy, helping out Rich so he can focus on work, improving the look of the house, saving money, and it's aesthetically pleasing and satisfying whenever I finish an area. This morning, I rewarded myself with three new paintbrushes from Lowe's (because this is my life now). They have just the right stiffness to the bristles, and I'm pretty excited to attack the trim with these new babies. (Please try not to compare your lives to mine, btw. Not everyone can be as fabulous as I am right now.)
• I can't remember how long it's been since we went vegetarian again (maybe four months)? But over the last few days, I've tried four different Gardein products, and oh my. Huge fan. I tried two dishes with a friend at Island Naturals (the 'beef' and 'chicken'), and then cooked the Mandarin 'chicken' and 'meatballs' (the latter was too spicy though) for the family. Delish! Even Ryan ate it!!! And Ryan (the human embodiment of a toothpick) eats nothing. 
• Since the marathon a month ago, I haven't had much luck feeling strong, effortless and happy on a long run. I'm not sure why, but they've been all been pretty rough/tiring/not fun. A few days ago, I finally overcame that mental/physical hurdle! I ran 15 miles, solo, and felt really great. Though I still have no races on the horizon (I like my freedom from disciplined training), I'm hoping this continues.
• Like most nerds with free time, I'm excitedly redesigning a section of our garden. Our upcycled planter boxes are not doing so well (the elements have softened the wood at three times the speed I'd imagined),  so we're going to tear them apart, remove some decorative fauna (that attracts lizards by the dozen), and put in some very pricey, but thankfully free, large ceramic planters from my dad and use those instead. I'm hoping to mix the soil with our compost before I transfer the new plants...and I'm way more excited about this project than anyone with a life should be. I see tomatoes, basil, beets and kale thriving back there once I'm done. (Yes, I'm delusional about my plant-growing abilities.)
• We are counting down the days until a fun family adventure. I'm uber excited to go on a trip with my parents and one of my very best friends and her husband. 

All right, as you can see, not much going on other than painting and running in my uber glamorous world at the moment. Thankfully, I have a cute son, two very cute nieces and two funny nephews to keep me entertained during the slow months. ;-)