If you are a parent, you've probably experienced this phenomena. Some days (or maybe even every day) it seems that you are running on empty. You aren't getting enough sleep, have given into eating a poor diet and are mentally fatigued. It makes you feel like a sack of crap, for lack of better example. It sabotages creativity, productivity and even your weight.

I wish there was a quick and easy answer to prevent burnout [because I'd sure make a lot of money by selling that information!] but I do know that we simply aren't designed to give and give without recharging on a regular basis. As I type this, I feel that I'm running on empty and need to recharge, but don't really have the luxury of time to do so. Praise God that we are being whisked away on vacation in a very short amount of time! It is a much needed break. And I fully intend to have a day [which probably really means half a day] of kid-free time, all to myself at some point during that week.

Fill'er up, I'm running on E.

...but 13.1 sounds a bit nutty. Don't even get me started on the whole 26.2 miles thing. Are you marathoners totally insane, or what? Anyway, I'm publicly committing to run the Half Marathon (13.1 miles) on May 1st, 2010 at the Illinois Marathon. Now it's your turn to hold me accountable to this. In fact at any point in time from this day forward until the marathon, I give you full permission to harass me about how much [how little] I've been running that particular week.

In addition, expect to hear lots of groaning, complaining, whining and general unhappiness about my current lifestyle choice. And don't be surprised if I start fantasizing about an open bag of Doritos, a LaZboy recliner and a Gilmore Girls marathon. [Cause really, that's the kind of marathon that I'm used to, one that involves the active participation of changing the DVD when we run out of episodes to watch.]

Welcome to this edition of FAIL! Friday. Hope your week has gone well and you haven't experienced too many FAILs this week yourself. Mine happened just yesterday and I have to say, it was pretty darn cute. If it weren't so disgusting, I would've made James recreate it so I could take a picture.

Our yard is in the midst of a makeover, with a truly ambitious landscaping project underway. The tiger lilies desperately needed to be transplanted, the ground needs to be dug up for the edgers, and we need to get some landscaping rocks....all that is to say, I'm feeling the pinch and needed to focus on something other than James. Which means: WHATEVER MAKES JAMES QUIET, JAMES GETS TO DO while Mama is busy. Don't lie--you've let your kids do crazy stuff while you were busy too.

On this particular day, what made James quiet was drinking out of the water hose. Not too bad, you might be thinking, but you didn't see how muddy this water hose was. I look over at James only to see his mouth covered with mud. And a great big smile. Who knew mud tasted so yummy?

Those of you who follow my tweets know that my DH and I ran a 5k in the rain on Saturday. It was good for me to have another 5k run, even though I was not prepared at all this time. My awesome neighbor who helped me train for the Illinois Marathon 5k was on vacation this time around, but has agreed to train with me for a 10k in August.

We ran/walked about 3.5 miles today. Here we go again...