Yesterday morning, Carina did her first 1k run.  She always begs to run with me, and loves to chase and be chased, so I thought she would love this.  Craig has actually been yearning to sign her up for a kids run for quite some time.  So, when I came across the “Little Giblet” kids run a couple weeks ago, I signed her up.  We talked about it a little, did a few practice runs, and anticipated her excitement on the big day.

In the end, what we got is what my friend Charlotte would call “anticipointment”.  The day before the run, Carina started saying she didn’t want to do it.  We figured we would head on out to the park anyway and see what happened.  About fifteen minutes before the run, she seemed happy and excited (see picture, left).

On the starting line, surrounded by tons of kids both older and younger, she seemed a bit nervous and intimidated.  She wanted me to hold her and would not let go of my hand.  Understandable.

The run started, and she ran with everyone else, but she had her serious face on.  Then, she saw Craig with the camera and flashed him a big smile and a wave.

Hi Daddy!

I thought we were golden.  It went down hill from there.  About 30 yards into the race, she stopped running and said she was too tired.  I fairly well dragged her the rest of the way.  At one point she even rode on my shoulders. She asked if we could stop and see the ducks.  She asked if we could get the balloons tied to the light poles.  I tried really hard to remember that she’s only three.

Meanwhile, Craig and Callen worked on some action sequences for their next movie.  I think you’ll agree, we’ve got a very talented father/son – director/actor team.

Carina did run the last 10 feet to the finish line, then, after crossing the finish line, ran a good stretch to get to Craig. So, perhaps she is going to be one of those race spectator/casual jog through the park type girls.  Honestly, I think it’s a little early to tell.

Afterward, the kids had fun playing with the big balloons and people watching.  This experience certainly was not what we expected, but that’s what happens when you have kids.

Balloons are more fun that running!

Medal, check. Baloon, check. Let's go home.

Tonight, we were all together in the truck, running an errand.  Carina was sitting in her car seat, playing with Callen’s toy hammer.

C: What can I fix mommy?

Me: I don’t know, Carina.  What’s broken?

C:  I don’t know.  Do you?

Me: No.  Your car seat, maybe?

A few minutes later…

C: I’m fixing my eye, mommy.

I turn and see her with the prong end of the toy hammer jammed into her eye.

Me:  Oh, was your eye broken?

C: Yes, it was all cracked.  But I’m fixing it.  I’m getting a new eye.

Me:  Huh.  Where do you get a new eye?

C:  I put change in my car seat, and a new eyeball comes out.  See, now it’s all fixed.  Is my new eyeball beautiful?

Me:  Yes Carina, your new eyeball is beautiful. (as Craig cracks up laughing in the passenger seat…)

These are the days, folks.

It seems even when I think I’ve run further, when I get in and map my route it’s only 3.3 miles. Definitely a reoccurring theme.  It was good though I was proper sweaty when I got in, must be due to my new sweaty betty arm bands.  I found an old pedometre in my room so thought I’d wear it on my run, it has quite a few cool gadgets on it. Obviously it’s a pedometre first, with stepometre and distance calculator but it also has a handy torch and a rape alarm!! What more do you need?  I found the torch quite handy when I was by the river but then when I tried to turn it off the bloody rape alarm started, managed to turn it off quite quickly but didn’t see anyone rush to my aid so not sure how effective it would be in a real life situation.

The bottom of my right leg felt quite tight again, it’s weird, tends to feel heavy and a bit solid.  Hopefully it will get better it tends to go away reasonably swiftly but can be a bit of a pain.  The good news is I’m starting to get a lot of money in sponsorship and that makes it all worthwhile, have my minimum £250 pledged now and want to raise as much as possible so won’t stop there!! Still lots of people to bug .

Haven’t played football for a while so might play tomorrow if I feel OK, I do get a bit worried I will get injured though.  I’ll have to take it easy, I suppose and see how it goes.

Right, well that’s all for now folks,  laters CJ xx

Kirin Hobby is now accepting preorders for Harley Quinn from the Cover Girls of the DC Universe line of statues by DC Direct. And if you missed the first run, now’s your chance to get the popular Wonder Woman and Zatanna statues. The re-release for these 2 sold out statues is scheduled to arrive in time for Christmas! Also scheduled to be re-released is the sold out Sasuke Chidori Statue by Toynami from the popular series Naruto. Reserve yours now!

New in stock are the Revoltech Yamaguchi II Getter Dragon and Neo Getter action figures from Kaiyodo, Marvel Select Hulk and Iron Man from DST, Emaretta (Shunya Yamashita) from Yamato. And back from popular demand, Tokidoki’s Mozzarella and cactus friends vinyl toys make for great holiday gifts. They’re now in stock and ready to ship!

Enjoy!
Edward

Creators’ Labo #021 Emaretta-chan (Shunya Yamashita) [Figure] by Yamato
Revoltech No.075 Neo Getter 1 [Action Figure] by Kaiyodo
Revoltech No.074 Getter Dragon [Action Figure] by Kaiyodo
Tokidoki: Mozzarella the Moofia Vinyl [Figure] by Strangeco
Tokidoki Cactus Friends: Bruttino & Carina 2-Pack [Figure] by Strangeco
Tokidoki Cactus Friends: Bastardino & Polpettina Vinyl 2-Pack [Figure] by Strangeco
Mazinkaiser: Max Alloy Mazinkaiser (Mazinger Z) [Action Figure] by Max Factory
Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Zatanna [Figure] by DC Direct
Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Wonder Woman [Figure] by DC Direct
Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Power Girl [Figure] by DC Direct
Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Harley Quinn [Figure] by DC Direct
Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Catwoman [Figure] by DC Direct
Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Black Canary [Figure] by DC Direct
Marvel Select: Iron Man [Action Figure] by Diamond Select
Marvel Select: Incredible Hulk [Action Figure] by Diamond Select
Naruto: Sasuke Ultimate Chidori Statue [Figure] by Toynami
Naruto Shippuden Series 1: Naruto & Deidara Set of 2 [Action Figure] by Toynami

Today my new schedule started, in fact I don’t really have a proper one but I figured if I changed the dates on the novice one on the website I could follow that.  It’s really just to give me something to tick off, as I went a bit freestyle tonight. I was naughty yesterday and didn’t do my walk, it’s just the weather was awful and I felt shattered – not that I can really use that as an excuse. So tonight I decided to run for as long as I could, then walk and carry on like that so I wasn’t actually timing it more just going to how I feel.  I found this easier although my right calf muscle felt extremely tight when I got back.

I went a slightly different way on a longer run – total of 3.37 miles apparently. Interestingly I managed to run this in about 30 mins, which means technically (and obviously I know this is not realistic) – I could do the 26.2 miles in 3.89 hours. Pretty good time!!  Keep going at this rate I’ll be ready for London 2012! Move along Radcliffe, you’ve had your day – It’s Jenkins now!!…Hmm to be honest I think the only thing we have in common is the “relieving” ourselves in public – haha just joking of course .

Anyhow off now, laters CJ xx

There have been several sightings of the Berenstain Bears here in Little Rock over the past week.  For those of you who don’t know, the Berenstain Bears are a family of bears who live in their tree house in the happy community of Bear Country.  I never really thought about it, but I guess it would make sense that Bear Country would be located somewhere here in beautiful, tree-filled Arkansas.

Last Saturday, the Bear family showed up at the Woodland’s Edge community Halloween Fest.  Carina’s friend, Amelie, and her dad, Arnaud, said they saw Papa Bear and Brother Bear enjoying bouncing around on the back of the hayride, and that Sister Bear really liked lobbing balls at the tennis witch.

On Wednesday the Berenstains were sighted at the LUNA Moms Halloween party.  It was a really great party, and rumor has it that Mama Bear was happy to see that she wasn’t the only LUNA Mom dressed up for the occasion.The entire Bear family enjoyed visiting with the partygoers and sampling all the great food.

Friday night, Boo at the Zoo was the location of the next Bear Family appearance.  Our friends Meredith, Elaine and Juliana said that the Bears seemed right at home among all the animals, and really had fun taking a whirl around the “Over the Jumps” Carousel (except for Brother Bear, who appeared to be a bit concerned).  Lots of people saw Brother and Sister Bear having fun Trick or Treating all the candy stands.

On Saturday morning, the Berenstains took in a little culture at the Main Library, where they saw a Brian & Terri Kinder Concert.  Callen’s favorite girl friend, Abbey, and her mom, Nicole, said that Sister Bear got to sing into the microphone with Mr. Brian, and that Brother Bear was wandering all over the place.

Finally, on Halloween Night, the Berenstain Bears came to our house for Trick or Treating.  We were so glad to finally meet them in person, since Carina LOVES reading their books.  They were nice enough to come in and let us take their picture by our fireplace.

Proof that it can happen:

Carina and Callen sitting still! In the same place. At the same time.  Amazing.

(The title of this post comes from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  He ends each show with a video clip, and introduces it by saying, “and now, your moment of Zen.”)