The Half

Well, folks.  I ran a half-marathon today.  10 years ago I recall running a 5 K and I came home destroyed. My muscles were so sore, I had to ice them.  I have come such a long way.  Today I came home and was tired.  But I took a bath, had a good meal and took a little rest.  Then I was fine again; cleaned the garage, visited with neighbors, tidied and vacuumed the house before bed.  Wow.  I feel really good about my current physical fitness.

I did well--as well as I expected I would do.  My husband could not believe I finished in precisely the time I expected.  The hills were much harder than I expected, but I hung in there.  This is where my husband thought I would crash and burn.

At 12.75 miles I just about lost all stamina.  I started to feel like all the stores were depleted and everything ached. Then I mustered enough strength to jog to the finish.  Part of this may have had to do with poor hydration.  I really hated picking up water because drinking it messed up the rhythm of my breathing.

When I finished I felt a little emotional, because I needed some nourishment.  But my stomach was in too much of a knot to eat.  I drank a sport drink and felt better.

I don't have plans to run further distances.  I feel running is really hard on the joints and I figure my joints and I have a lot of years left together.  I want them in good condition.  I do appreciate running, though.

My neighbor on the other hand, is a top athlete.  She finish fourth out of everyone (1200+ runners).  I think she was number one female.  However, she was pretty disappointed.  She's injured and felt she could do better.  I'm sorry she could not take full pleasure in her victory.  I understand that.  She knew she could do better.  But on the other hand, wow, take some pleasure in the fact that on a bad day, "you're still a winner."  She's so fast.  I'm in awe.

I was able to enjoy my new running pants from Lorna Jane this race.  It was cool this morning and these were perfect.  They also compressed a little so they were great support.  I also did not suffer chafing (except for my arm, where my phone armband rubbed).

I always wear one of my Adam Towler race shirts to the race and I started wearing my pineapple bandanna in honor of my brother.  This also makes me feel a little emotional at the end of a race.  Another thing about running is that since it can bring physical pain, I try to channel this into penance, say my prayers and give it to the glory of God.

11 miles. Home again.

A post shared by Renée Clayton (@claytonopolis) on Mar 19, 2017 at 7:05am PDT

May God grant you many blessed years!

2017 Peg Doll Saint Exchange

Every spring for the last three years I have participated in a peg doll saint exchange.  I love this practice for the same reason I paint and venerate icons.  As I paint the chosen saint, I meditate on the lives of saints, on the holiness of my family, or just my relationship with God.

Once I receive the other saints in the exchange, I divide them among my children and put them into their Easter baskets along with Easter treats.

For this year's saint I have chosen is St. Alexander of Jerusalem.  We have decided that this saint is our son's patron.  We decided upon Alexander's name based on many great Alexanders, as we did with our other son and many great, Thomas'.

I'm not quite done, but I am getting close.

May God grant you many years.

On Being Uniform

Sometimes I try to solve my problems with uniforms...

Homeschooling is a tough job for mom.  Not only do I spend most of the day directing the children in their studies, but I also keep house and cook, and serve as chief financial officer, among other responsibilities. I also play the part of every person employed at a school--principal, counselor, art teacher, computer teacher, librarian, and most importantly spiritual director.  This job is overwhelming.  It's worth it, but it is difficult.

Sometimes problems arise like, disobedient behavior, disrespectful behavior, slovenly behavior, messiness.  I think that requiring the children to wear uniforms helps them be a little more serious.  It also helps with the massive amounts of laundry.  The time saved on laundry and getting dressed is better used on discipline and leisure.  Therefore, all around uniforms take the pressure off me as the head mistress of this household. 

Our homeschool co-op instituted the wearing of uniforms at co-op 4 years ago.  The parents decided any uniform would do.  This gave parents the options of buying uniforms at secondhand stores or inexpensive bargain store uniforms.  This was the catalyst for our whole family.

I was not wanting to do this in the beginning.  I had my reasons.  Mainly, I just couldn't be bothered.  My husband has always wanted our homeschooling children to wear uniforms.  He wanted them to look nice and be serious.  I protested because I had one kindergartner, two toddlers, and a baby. I exclaimed, "To what effect is he being uniform if there are no other children in uniform?"  Fair enough.  But when the co-op started wearing uniforms, and now we have a whole troop of our own, it now makes sense.  

I should have just listened to my husband with our one kindergarten aged child.  Wearing the uniform does send the message to a child that it is business time.  It's not time for sleeping (pajamas).  It's not time for church.  It's not time for play (soft tees and shorts).  It's time for learning.  We do not wear something distracting.  The clothing is nice yet plain.  

Last spring, I took away all my girls cloths except for the uniform, because they constantly left clothing all over the floor.  It remained this way for three months.  With good behavior, they could earn a couple play outfits.  Then I gave them all back in the summer.

My kids have too many clothes and toys.  One of our problems and blessings is that people give us bags of hand-me-down clothing.  We so appreciate this blessing!  The children enjoy the clothing people give them, and the receive so much.  It’s just hard because they have a hard time then paring down to only what they need.  

I want to take it all away and start over with just a few important things.  At the moment, I have neither the time nor the fortitude to do this.  The idea lingers in my head though and I am very tempted to do this over the summer.

But uniforms…Yes, we are always happier when we choose uniforms.

I bought these things on primary.com.  I thought this would be an expensive alternative to uniforms.  After I bought undershorts and sweaters, it was really about the same as more expensive uniforms.  I mainly just wanted to try out the brand.  I do like the brand, but it's not as cheap as the secondhand ones we get.  I will definitely try out a couple more styles from this brand.  I'm just not that into buying kids clothes considering we have been gifted so many wonderful second-hands.