Random Facts Friday ...

1. I am a total book nerd. Add that to the fact that it takes me about 60 minutes to read 150 pages and I can crush a book in a few hours. Already in 2014, I have finished 29 books. If you're doing the math, that's about a book every two days.

2. This morning I was supposed to do a 13 mile run. I woke up not feeling great and my quick attempt to see how I would hold up was an utter failure. Ultimately, I bailed. At first I was frantically concerned that I wouldn't get my long run in (J's traveling this week), but then I remembered, I'm not racing anything longer than a 10K until October, so I probably don't need to stress about missing a long run now.

3. I've decided that I'm over trying to force my kids to learn things they are not interested in. Pushing the issue makes it harder for everyone. For example, Dilly potty trained herself in one day. I told her we had no more diapers and she never had an accident again. The timing was right for everyone and there were no tears or frustrations.

Recently, this whole "waiting until they're ready" thing has made another appearance at our house. For months, J and I have been trying to teach Doodle how to ride a bike. It's been less than successful and usually, someone walks away upset. But on Saturday afternoon, something changed. Doodle asked to ride her bike. J got it out for her and then he started doing yard work. A few minutes later, he found Doodle zooming around our cul-de-sac on two wheels with no help from us. Proving, yet again, that kids are not going to do anything until they want to do it.

4. On Monday, I am visiting an allergist. For a few weeks, I have had this itchy rash on my arms and legs that comes and goes with no real explanation. And since I haven't changed any of my skin care products or detergent, I figure it's probably something that I am eating that is causing the problem. I'm really eager to get some answers, but I swear if they tell me I am allergic to chocolate or peanut butter, I might have a coronary.

5. I am never going to understand why anyone would willingly choose to forgo whole milk and butter. I love them both endlessly.

6. The more that I train, the more that I realize that I would be perfectly happy if I never raced again. I've come to learn that I don't train to perform well on a single day. I train because I just really love to do it.

7. We purged the girls' rooms of all the toys that they had broken or outgrown this past weekend. I found the activity extremely energizing and would have gotten rid of even more had J not set limits on my cleanse. The crazy thing is that we removed a huge amount of stuff and you can't even tell.

8. I haven't eaten gluten in almost two years. I know that eating it would make me feel horrible, yet every once in a while, I consider what food would be worth feeling that bad for. Almost always, I think it would be a meatball parmesan hoagie. Trust me, I realize that there is a such thing as gluten-free bread (and meatballs), but it's not the same. Not even close.

9. I just wrote my second to last check for preschool. Knowing that I only have one payment to go is an incredibly exciting thing.