My own, personal Al Roker

So, I've admitted before that I'm obsessed with the weather. I love to know what the days ahead are going to have in store. Living in Kansas, you can never bet that the next day will be similar to the last. We have drastic swings in temperatures and conditions within days or even hours. I like to be prepared (as best I can), so I like to watch the weather.

In the mornings, Molly will often want to watch a show while I shower and get ready. She asks to watch Dora, and my usual answer is, "ok, just let me watch the weather, first." For Mother's Day, I went to a Mother's Day tea at her preschool. The teacher helped the kids fill out questionnaires about their moms. I really shouldn't have been surprised when, for the "What's Mom's favorite TV show?" question, Molly answered "the weather." Yes, yes, she did. In fact, she actually calls the entire Today Show, the weather.

I should always be aware that I'm raising little sponges, because I'm afraid this obsession of mine with the weather has created a monster. A tiny, little Al-Roker-wannabe monster.

A couple days ago, while watching the weather on The Today Show, the local weather guy happened to mention rain was a possibility for Monday. Now, keep in mind, this was like last Wednesday. Every day since then, Molly has said, "It's going to rain on Monday, Mommy!" Or, "We can't go to the pool on Monday, because it's going to rain." Or, "I hope my camp is inside on Monday, because it's going to rain."

Rain in Maine in May

A week after I ran my marathon in November, I get a text from my little brother. "Wanna run a marathon in Maine in May?" it asked. "You're crazy," I said. "I just ran one. No way am I ready to run another one." For me, running a marathon is kind of like giving birth. Both are horrible and awful, and the only good thing is crossing the finish line/holding your baby. You swear you will never do it again, but later, as the memories of the pain fade, you get it into your mind that maybe it wasn't so bad, and maybe you could do another one. It was this reason that three years passed between my kids and four years between my marathons.

So, because years hadn't passed, and I could still very much remember the pain from the marathon, I was not ready to sign up to run another one in six months. But, I did tell William that I would consider running the Sugarloaf Mountain 15K instead of the Sugarloaf Mountain Marathon. William proceeded to recruit people to run the marathon with him. My dad. My uncle. Cory said he had always wanted to visit Maine, so he agreed to run the 15K with me. We signed up. We got plane tickets. My mom agreed to watch the girls while we were gone. It was set. It was planned. Then ...

Day of a thousand 'vites

The law of Lafferty land dictates that during the winter, the Lafferty crew will be huddled within the confines of our four walls. We will have no plans. Nothing to do to occupy our days except keeping warm and trying to find ways to entertain two small girls. Then, winter slowly recedes and gives spring a chance to creep in. (As I write this, it is 45 degrees, cloudy and rainy, so spring is moving at the pace of schizophrenic turtle -- cold, cold, warm, cold, hot, cold, cold, warm, cold again.) With spring attempting to make its debut, the law stops belonging to Lafferty land, and starts belonging to Murphy. Some form of Murphy's Law that is. Because, it seems, Murphy's Law would dictate that all things that could possibly happen, will take place on one day, preferably at the same time. So it was in our household on April 30th.

Throughout the last month or two, we've been receiving invitations to many a various thing. I know, you're probably thinking I sound pretty annoying bragging about all these invitations. I'm not, I swear. Remember, for almost all of winter, we are stuck at home inside with nothing to do. Plus, I can't really brag, because truth be told, I never did receive my invite for the Royal Wedding. And, I checked my mail every day. Sometimes twice a day. Some might call it delusional. I prefer the term optimistic.

Well, back to the invitations that did come in the mail. It seems unlikely, but true: They all landed on April 30th. At the final tally, we had plans or invitations for two races, one baby shower, one birthday party, and two weddings. In one day. Really? How is that statistically possible? Considering I never made it past Math for Jocks in college, I guess I'm not really qualified to comment on statistical probabilities. But it sure seems highly unlikely. Unless you're dealing with Murphy's Law. Which, evidently we are.

Have you heard the theory about introverts and extroverts? The theory goes that being an extrovert or introvert doesn't have anything to do with how much you enjoy being around other people, but more about where you draw your energy. I love being around people, but it tires me out, and I definitely need down time to recharge. Cory: he thrives on being around people and doing things. The more he does, the more energized he is. If you can see where the slight detour in the post is leading: Cory thought we could do it all. I was less sure. Finally, after laying it all out, and reminding Cory that we owned neither a time machine nor a vehicle that could instantly transport us from one place to the next, Cory was forced to admit that we could not do everything on one day. And, we would even have to split up, each of us attending certain things separately.

So, without further ado: photographic proof of our insanely busy day.

First up, was the Run for Mercy. A 5K/10K race that raises money for Oceans of Mercy. Cory brought the girls out, and I ran the 10K.

Clearly, the hard work of watching me run made Charlotte very thirsty.

Charlotte and her friend Olivia were having fun playing with Tessa in the stroller. Both Olivia and Tessa's moms ran the 5K race.

Molly got to run in the Kids' Fun Run.

This is right before Molly burst into tears after being trampled by the bigger boys in the race.

Sarah and I ran our little behinds off and were rewarded with medals! 2nd and 3rd place in our age group. Yes, now that I'm 30, Sarah and I are in the same age group. We are now direct competitors.

Despite the tearful breakdown, Molly did earn her very own medal.

We didn't get pictures of the baby shower and first wedding of the day. Next up, was Cory's race. The Martini Mile. I did not attend this race, as I was attending the baby shower. It was a relay race with four team members, each running one mile.

Cory getting passed the baton by Jason.

Nikki passing along the baton to Quinten. She would probably hate this picture, but she doesn't read my blog, so she'll never know it's up here. I'm evil like that.

Cory didn't get to stay to enjoy all of the post-race vodka (it was Martini Mile, afterall), because we had to get ready for the last event of the day. Mike and Paula's wedding. Between the race, the baby shower, and the wedding, I had three outfit changes. I felt like Molly on a regular day, constantly changing clothes. She did help me get dressed for the wedding, though. She told me I looked 'very stylish.' Not sure how a 3-year-old envisions stylish, but I'll take it.

Cory and I all gussied up. For parents, a night out without kids, dressed up, with free wine and dancing is pretty much the equivalent of going to Vegas or Monte Carlo for normal people. Those adorable paper dolls we're holding are the happy couple.

I used to work with Mike, so his wedding was like attending an class reunion, only with ex-coworkers instead of ex-classmates. This is me with Monica.

And, this is me with Becca. If you'll notice, I did not wear a hat or fascinator a la Royal Wedding. But, I did get as close as I could without appearing totally insane. A leather flower headband. I loved it.

So, it is now Sunday night. I had a fabulous time at everything I attended. But, back to the whole introvert/extrovert conversation. I am exhausted. Does anyone want to watch two little girls tomorrow so I can sleep all day. No? You sure? Ah, well, it was worth a shot.



PS. Big thank yous and shout outs to Leigh and my mom who watched the girls at various times throughout the day so we could attend everything. 

Walk this way

Some people might say I'm obsessed with the weather. Cory, more specifically, might say that. I like to watch the weather every morning on the Today Show. I try to watch it every night on the 10 o'clock news. (Truth be told, sometimes I fall asleep before it actually comes on. Ok, truth again, a lot of the time I fall asleep before it comes on. It would be so much easier if it were the first thing on the news.) I even have a digital thermometer telling me the exact temperature outside my back door. It never occurred to me that this behavior was odd. I like to know. I like to be prepared. I like to know if I need to wear my shorts or a sweater. My snow boots or my rain coat. My bikini or my stilettos. Oh wait, that's not me, that's my thermometer's weather girl.

 When I bought the thermometer, I was excited for an illustration of how to dress in the different temps. I didn't realize this is what the makers had in mind.

And this? It's just ridiculous. I've had to hide her away so we're not constantly staring at the cover of Playboy in out kitchen.

Anyway, one summer, in college, I went to spend a week at my grandmother's house in Tucson, Arizona. I kept with my normal routine of getting up and watching the weather. It wasn't until about day three that I realized the habit was ridiculous in Arizona. Seriously, it was 95 and sunny every single day. No variation. Being a weather person in Arizona has to be the easiest job in the world. Being a weather person in Kansas? Not so easy. We all joke that our weather guys can never seem to get it right, but really, it's quite a tricky task. Remember just last week when I was lamenting the unpredictable nature of Kansas weather? I'm sure you all were just dying for a story to illustrate that point. So, here ya go: