A Little Give & Take...

I'm sitting here listening to the pouring rain (if you're in Nampa right now you know what I'm talking about) and catching up on my blogging. Last week I was talking to Christina Arnold about my kids getting into the fridge and pantry just to make a huge mess. For the 3rd time Katie and Ashley took a brand new box of cereal and dumped it all over the kitchen, dining room, and both living rooms!!! I was only upstairs for literally 10 minutes and before I could reach the bottom step Sammy said, "Mom! Katie and Ashley made a big mess. I didn't help, but Ashley did!" She's always quick to blame Ashley, but in this case I wasn't surprised. It was a HUGE mess!!! I was so upset I sent all three girls upstairs and told them not to come out of their rooms until I told them to and if I saw their faces even once I would spank their bare bottoms. (Katie was in Sammy's room with her.) I spent the next half hour or so cleaning up the tornado of cereal and then jumped on the treadmill to calm myself down. As I talked to Christina about my frustration she suggested I get locks on my pantry... I've tried finding a child lock for my pantry and have come home empty handed. The knobs are too far apart for the locks that loop around them... does that make sense? This is what I mean...My doors are the kind that pull out and make sort of a W shape... I'm sure that doesn't make sense... Like this... Anyway, Christina came up with a brilliant idea!!! She thought maybe a shower curtain rod would work. I was off to Walmart to find a cheap shower curtain rod in hopes that it would work. Guess what? It works wonderfully!!! Plus, it only cost me $10 and will save me lots more in the long run. Now my kids are staying out of the pantry and fridge thanks to another child lock (above). Wahoo for Christina's creative thinking!!! I just wanted to pass along that little bit of advice if your needing a child lock for your weird pantry doors.

Now for the take... Angela and I have decided to try and run a half marathon every month this summer. Our next race is in two weeks and I'm in a bit of frustration. I know that you are supposed to carb load the night before your race, but I would rather eat my own arm than to eat pasta. The night before our last race I sucked it up and ate some pasta, but it really wasn't much. I still hated it and sent most of it home with Angela. So my question is, "What can I eat that is a good carb before a race that is NOT pasta?" We've been talking about this a lot and have not come up with answers. We thought maybe breads or potatoes, but those are so full of starch. Any ideas at this point would be greatly appreciated. Please help!!!