Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

2015, monday, pitch, wars, july, 2016, my, tuesday, 2017, october, 26, wednesday, august, blog, mentor, for, team, pusheen, mommy, mondays, books, pages, 18, 19, friday, may, 27, march, 21, september, 23, 13, about, me, foreign, service, followers, archive, labels, popular, posts, bunny, statcounter, wishlist, wish, list, when, another, parent, decides, they, know, better, than, you, beautiful, disaster, aka, john, ironman, new, zealand, race, report, third, wedding, coloring, from, harpercollins, interview, with, mentee, joan, he, dear, mentees, bonding, over,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (372), and (328), that (120), was (114), but (102), for (96), this (81), with (75), you (68), are (46), not (45), have (44), all (41), your (37), when (36), from (36), she (35), out (33), had (33), can (33), love (31), her (30), who (30), there (29), pitch (28), wars (28), more (28), writing (27), what (27), jack (27), really (27), because (27), our (27), book (26), mara (26), just (26), about (25), one (25), back (25), 2015 (24), like (24), they (23), here (22), time (22), race (22), been (21), first (20), last (20), got (20), were (20), joan (20), books (19), will (19), other (19), some (19), few (18), good (18), than (18), new (18), also (18), two (18), characters (18), didn (17), know (17), both (17), would (17), much (17), things (16), mentor (16), going (16), could (16), his (16), year (16), said (16), very (16), 2014 (15), don (15), world (15), through (15), always (15), 2013 (14), since (14), has (14), then (14), them (14), something (14), doesn (14), people (14), games (14), pusheen (13), 2011 (13), 2012 (13), fantasy (13), after (13), into (13), let (13), off (13), another (13), want (13), mentee (13), think (13), bike (13), mary (13), posted (12), way (12), own (12), give (12), never (12), their (12), should (12), long (12), rae (11), away (11), made (11), still (11), days (11), over (11), john (11), better (11), told (11), need (11), coloring (10), again (10), right (10), 2016 (10), most (10), little (10), take (10), even (10), work (10), anything (10), happy (10), day (10), where (10), only (10), before (10), wasn (10), get (10), why (10), make (10), start (10), run (10), team (9), thing (9), blog (9), may (9), comments (9), being (9), down (9), well (9), point (9), did (9), too (9), game (9), ever (9), agent (9), looking (9), any (9), getting (9), great (9), jul (8), read (8), course (8), took (8), started (8), kids (8), best (8), contest (8), part (8), aren (8), friends (8), which (8), big (8), how (8), between (8), kid (8), character (8), foreign (7), 2017 (7), labels (7), 2010 (7), found (7), every (7), without (7), enough (7), weeks (7), came (7), say (7), myself (7), plot (7), wanted (7), finish (7), hope (7), life (7), stuff (7), maybe (7), requests (7), see (7), keep (7), believe (7), sure (7), couple (7), winner (7), won (7), training (7), swim (7), hurt (7), etc (7), experience (7), times (7), scifi (7), post (6), aug (6), sep (6), oct (6), mar (6), daughter (6), idea (6), story (6), pretty (6), many (6), feel (6), done (6), monday (6), writer (6), major (6), easy (6), help (6), amazing (6), party (6), soon (6), thought (6), felt (6), around (6), facebook (6), same (6), plenty (6), years (6), beautiful (6), inspired (6), look (6), these (6), lot (6), details (6), art (6), huge (6), fact (6), husband (6), real (6), probably (6), together (6), especially (6), mean (6), meat (6), ask (6), vegetarian (6), magic (6), wolf (6), romance (6), points (6), simple (5), service (5), list (5), nov (5), dec (5), jan (5), feb (5), apr (5), jun (5), home (5), once (5), reading (5), shared (5), ago (5), actually (5), mom (5), worlds (5), whole (5), asked (5), wrote (5), helped (5), forward (5), speculative (5), fiction (5), novel (5), manuscript (5), seriously (5), process (5), worked (5), left (5), anyone (5), later (5), doing (5), doubt (5), color (5), nice (5), someone (5), come (5), small (5), friend (5), decided (5), water (5), such (5), lake (5), top (5), along (5), bit (5), personal (5), multiple (5), call (5), strong (5), having (5), six (5), evening (5), morning (5), christina (5), support (5), went (5), nothing (5), him (5), strange (5), tell (5), trying (5), happened (5), eat (5), alternative (5), hotdogs (5), super (5), premise (5), picture (5), bonus (5), sarah (4), wishlist (4), wish (4), mommy (4), motherhood (4), food (4), represented (4), baby (4), waiting (4), chance (4), sister (4), son (4), become (4), favorite (4), parent (4), almost (4), until (4), write (4), late (4), minutes (4), jessie (4), excited (4), while (4), ready (4), wait (4), guys (4), short (4), basically (4), sign (4), everything (4), saying (4), smart (4), kind (4), generous (4), group (4), knew (4), less (4), luck (4), now (4), met (4), each (4), arrived (4), van (4), gogh (4), particular (4), manga (4), despite (4), fine (4), likely (4), isn (4), third (4), unless (4), months (4), second (4), cozumel (4), honest (4), perhaps (4), zero (4), healthy (4), aid (4), next (4), disaster (4), yes (4), worse (4), decision (4), week (4), weekend (4), sick (4), though (4), necessary (4), knows (4), find (4), body (4), matter (4), shoes (4), ahead (4), ran (4), friday (4), seon (4), mix (4), eating (4), open (4), quick (4), front (4), tried (4), liked (4), reason (4), loves (4), hadn (4), pick (4), building (4), add (4), bone (4), darker (4), ender (4), literary (4), system (4), dreamer (4), theme (3), photo (3), girl (3), stakes (3), mondays (3), posts (3), running (3), complete (3), boy (3), future (3), rather (3), boys (3), true (3), parts (3), old (3), gone (3), buying (3), picked (3), spot (3), sons (3), spent (3), paying (3), catch (3), simply (3), outside (3), appreciate (3), yesterday (3), mother (3), saturday (3), july (3), opportunity (3), thrown (3), shape (3), learn (3), grow (3), wonderful (3), august (3), okay (3), mentees (3), mentors (3), worth (3), writers (3), competitive (3), successes (3), finally (3), changing (3), hard (3), already (3), entry (3), panic (3), during (3), full (3), person (3), similar (3), page (3), offer (3), success (3), equal (3), nearly (3), those (3), working (3), harpercollins (3), attempt (3), deadline (3), provided (3), seeing (3), house (3), tip (3), quite (3), couldn (3), fun (3), might (3), clear (3), needs (3), shirt (3), wedding (3), lives (3), mass (3), pre (3), match (3), face (3), program (3), perspective (3), clean (3), mile (3), standard (3), wetsuit (3), bags (3), line (3), coming (3), factor (3), end (3), races (3), mist (3), rolling (3), fare (3), due (3), kiwi (3), cool (3), build (3), early (3), saw (3), trust (3), bed (3), sport (3), road (3), enjoyed (3), approach (3), country (3), power (3), response (3), others (3), makes (3), place (3), hours (3), hit (3), fresh (3), miles (3), else (3), heart (3), level (3), press (3), sense (3), needed (3), burned (3), playdate (3), means (3), comes (3), child (3), wrong (3), forgotten (3), important (3), four (3), eaten (3), fish (3), mad (3), imply (3), russia (3), try (3), die (3), widget (3), does (3), terms (3), twists (3), psychology (3), unique (3), twist (3), mind (3), anime (3), adventure (3), political (3), intrigue (3), trilogy (3), section (3), addition (3), places (3), ton (3), geniuses (3), curse (3), westworld (3), conflict (3), images (2), blogger (2), wednesdays (2), inspiration (2), thursdays (2), secret (2), garden (2), western (2), states (2), follow (2), family (2), author (2), fall (2), uwe (2), stender (2), older (2), high (2), school (2), shower (2), card (2), perfect (2), easily (2), fail (2), starbucks (2), arcs (2), chapter (2), several (2), white (2), head (2), proud (2), imagined (2), instead (2), extra (2), scene (2), possible (2), guard (2), tears (2), failed (2), charlotte (2), web (2), stuart (2), land (2), side (2), consider (2), leigh (2), bardugo (2), darkness (2), wintersoul (2), whip (2), meaning (2), questions (2), meet (2), bad (2), entered (2), fellow (2), share (2), lovey (2), dovey (2), critique (2), truly (2), turned (2), attack (2), round (2), certain (2), mine (2), ended (2), shocked (2), offers (2), brenda (2), learned (2), humor (2), knowing (2), dear (2), yours (2), whatever (2), wednesday (2), interview (2), gets (2), review (2), box (2), prismacolors (2), perfectly (2), free (2), coffee (2), table (2), sat (2), chose (2), happens (2), exactly (2), opinions (2), busy (2), street (2), offering (2), set (2), numbers (2), benefit (2), markers (2), seemed (2), pages (2), october (2), bride (2), hopefully (2), cake (2), shasha (2), visiting (2), insisted (2), stop (2), photos (2), ironman (2), zealand (2), report (2), zurich (2), atmosphere (2), must (2), fans (2), death (2), war (2), per (2), understandable (2), near (2), contact (2), solid (2), slower (2), massive (2), marked (2), volunteers (2), close (2), loop (2), distance (2), making (2), severe (2), age (2), click (2), single (2), class (2), options (2), wtc (2), pizza (2), fee (2), demands (2), tasty (2), below (2), least (2), black (2), leverage (2), form (2), universe (2), kona (2), order (2), spare (2), energy (2), fully (2), personally (2), epic (2), volume (2), three (2), bacterial (2), infection (2), fairly (2), consistency (2), decisions (2), 5am (2), critical (2), positive (2), host (2), stress (2), case (2), levels (2), somehow (2), wisely (2), coach (2), session (2), routine (2), favor (2), sessions (2), telling (2), lost (2), scott (2), plasma (2), common (2), meter (2), nutrition (2), electrolytes (2), option (2), pressed (2), lasting (2), value (2), far (2), taupo (2), directly (2), control (2), enjoying (2), local (2), trick (2), racing (2), purchased (2), question (2), mark (2), salt (2), gotten (2), chips (2), coke (2), plus (2), trapped (2), swimmers (2), faster (2), biggest (2), harder (2), break (2), saddle (2), pop (2), wheel (2), managed (2), window (2), five (2), station (2), term (2), leg (2), issues (2), cruised (2), sale (2), put (2), prolonging (2), immediately (2), army (2), ipa (2), gracious (2), venville (2), collect (2), existing (2), turn (2), relationships (2), moms (2), message (2), stories (2), bird (2), flame (2), apology (2), taste (2), declined (2), mentioned (2), says (2), hook (2), appreciated (2), giving (2), move (2), text (2), twenty (2), half (2), playdates (2), surprised (2), matters (2), feelings (2), parties (2), veggie (2), lived (2), choose (2), online (2), sunday (2), moving (2), invite (2), office (2), invitation (2), messaged (2), weird (2), appear (2), linky (2), genuinely (2), willing (2), rewrite (2), mindset (2), cheerleader (2), reassuring (2), empathetic (2), reader (2), oriented (2), notes (2), feedback (2), instrumental (2), careers (2), pacing (2), dialogue (2), catching (2), repeatedly (2), draft (2), culture (2), motivations (2), smoke (2), shade (2), court (2), scorpio (2), shadow (2), female (2), brainers (2), key (2), yesterdays (2), prefer (2), tragedy (2), cry (2), element (2), flowers (2), algernon (2), premises (2), sword (2), based (2), enjoy (2), straight (2), kaz (2), brekker (2), crows (2), board (2), military (2), cat (2), mouse (2), hunger (2), tastes (2), specific (2), upenn (2), lover (2), wombats (2), included (2), obviously (2), cusick (2), folio (2), eternally (2), grateful (2), guidance (2), lima (2), peru (2), diplomat (2), yekaterinburg (2), exploring (2), cultures (2), identical (2), twin (2), chatting (2), welcome (2), awesome (2), tuesday (2), astrid (2), 2019 (2), closer (2), definitely (2), journey (2), struggle (2), themes (2), please (2), elements (2), kestrel (2), seem (2), tropes (2), voices (2), primarily (2), wit (2), snark (2), voice (2), worldview (2), tech (2), framed (2), lie (2), powered, deejpilot, statcounter, bunny, joseph, typewriter, weekly, ellie, goulding, lights, raising, fridays, cute, christmas, gifts, popular, 180, 169, 159, 108, 131, 176, archive, mararaewrites, followers, eligible, view, profile, coral, pearl, harlequin, teen, triadaus, sanderson, subscribe, atom, scared, boxes, porcelain, dolls, breyer, horses, packed, poor, american, doll, molly, patiently, yellow, rain, slicker, melted, thomas, train, blissful, ignorance, remember, shakespeare, kipling, tolkien, twain, reminder, night, counting, penned, masterpiece, marshmallow, joins, illustrate, seven, folder, desktop, discussed, narrative, inciting, incidents, called, meteors, saves, meteor, falls, underwater, volcano, roald, dahl, collection, costco, observations, surprisingly, astute, declared, midway, redeem, himself, accomplishment, children, someday, able, shelf, worry, buried, laptop, attention, preoccupied, focusing, stay, crib, thirty, guilty, entertaining, passionate, mothering, creating, fulfill, shouldn, fern, describes, fair, answer, caught, completely, disney, note, totally, wizard, matilda, charlie, chocolate, factory, james, giant, peach, hero, zyrus, pet, labradoodle, harry, potter, bonding, mentoring, humphries, pay, deserving, nutshell, particularly, stripes, create, laini, taylor, maggie, stiefvater, victoria, schwab, send, neil, gaiman, stephen, king, holes, editor, communicate, serious, stupid, shiny, submission, either, sweet, letter, announced, ridiculously, savvy, used, silently, supportive, groups, partner, twitter, fake, believed, loss, imagine, ecstatic, revisions, change, panicked, literally, envy, title, wouldn, within, dream, agents, meant, destined, elated, measure, suddenly, utterly, ground, including, whim, reached, hilarious, stupidly, talented, nikki, roberti, assistant, elly, blake, freaking, rockstar, sweetest, eighty, existed, friendship, joy, sorrow, humility, dreamed, introduce, privilege, losses, lean, forget, visit, rest, links, tracie, martin, terrible, blogging, lately, link, asian, hesperia, published, brilliant, lucky, drake, september, recently, grown, ups, happily, agreed, ordered, justice, gorgeous, looks, sit, illustration, image, envision, akira, purposes, meantime, haven, pregnant, detail, paintings, inspiring, painting, classes, language, barrier, creative, outlet, enchanted, trickier, drawings, paint, patience, possibly, gel, colored, pencils, teeny, tiny, partially, finished, sunflowers, bursts, watching, napping, illustrations, proper, shading, techniques, date, teenage, artist, expensive, justify, clearly, expert, colorer, paper, thin, complaint, tearing, perforations, accidentally, ripped, trim, culrin, drawing, comment, bridesmaid, goes, charm, sticks, catches, sealed, kiss, marriage, licenses, anyway, cue, exchanging, vows, decorated, daddy, pilot, patches, officiate, wore, escorted, hmmm, recall, apartment, drank, lemonade, danced, rihanna, ploy, talking, aunt, terribly, posting, behalf, figure, relevant, blogged, past, further, ado, organization, par, superior, above, thoroughly, outclassed, deal, confidence, challenging, extent, breaks, packs, officials, omnipresent, strict, roller, lined, cheering, clockwork, organized, enhanced, location, transitions, logistics, simpler, mma, style, swims, safety, environment, wide, comfort, prerequisite, showing, type, starting, hand, current, hugely, inefficient, buoys, segments, relation, 3800m, hill, tents, orderly, compact, series, racks, abundant, helpful, stripping, mounting, bikes, parcours, backs, stiff, grades, town, center, chainring, unexpected, chip, seal, necessitate, swap, 23c, 25c, psi, marshals, thankfully, force, seems, pointy, groupers, drafting, competed, penalty, passed, riders, biding, refreshing, winds, negligible, format, countryside, quintessential, farmland, mountains, sheep, cows, green, pasture, efficient, bag, handed, stepped, mat, laps, stations, stretch, lonely, interestingly, sections, piste, jogging, tracks, fastest, pleasing, varied, terrain, scenery, weren, contrôlée, dopage, ultra, background, continue, amp, chow, tomato, soup, bananas, cold, vendors, selling, truck, complications, partake, credible, threat, drug, testing, non, sequitur, sweep, mechanical, doping, detector, uci, using, medal, finisher, imnz, mitigated, stage, january, register, insurmountable, unforced, errors, imcz, missing, error, shot, keen, sooner, bricks, generally, robbed, father, bio, otherwise, textbook, committed, amount, plagued, plagues, shigella, cyclospora, parasite, coli, watts, sharp, improvement, period, stubbornly, stuck, planned, intensity, adversity, persistence, trained, athlete, behaviors, fat, chlorine, allure, marching, sound, guns, practiced, takes, guess, forks, health, pride, towards, antibiotics, kick, bug, baseline, ultimately, remains, vicious, slow, gringo, adaptation, developing, biome, chronically, cortisol, efforts, pool, distances, 100m, 400m, bumped, curve, hour, kristian, manietta, intuitive, backed, pushed, occurred, coaching, investment, compounding, interest, therapist, passing, phase, regarding, improve, discipline, decompress, gas, foam, couch, peeling, sleep, self, sabotage, difficult, initiate, lower, quality, overall, maintenance, rack, 10pm, show, uninjured, reasons, resets, meditation, habits, travel, airline, brand, di2, loaded, suitcase, boring, occurrence, cautionary, tale, precisely, glue, tubulars, electronic, shifting, battery, wreak, havoc, helmet, sunglasses, lube, socks, goggles, airport, kindest, soul, gave, herself, stranger, humbled, generosity, retrospect, result, memories, special, thank, 9am, thursday, registration, items, café, afternoon, loosened, arms, hips, 1500m, 10k, decidedly, vacation, stressing, wine, laughs, boyfriend, crew, kitchen, prepare, win, salmon, fried, rice, butter, eggs, doubled, breakfast, bummed, terra, australia, untold, 100, tri, shite, ugh, remaining, normally, rely, ketone, bulk, calories, salts, available, roll, intuitively, stick, sugar, sort, tim, noakes, electrolyte, supplementation, experiment, beans, potato, craving, dig, ample, vespa, scored, fellows, pete, brett, owe, ride, thorough, warm, sub, brawl, suck, behind, incredible, powerful, smooth, swimming, lesson, feet, pack, comfortable, hang, onto, hoped, beach, awful, remarkably, considering, borrowed, shiv, crap, wheels, position, downright, pedestrian, aerobar, configuration, rate, moderate, perceived, exertion, hanging, cervelo, crowd, spoke, pulling, remove, spokes, brake, caliper, severely, rubbing, pads, effort, given, state, volunteer, solved, eager, pass, bottle, connected, edge, handlebar, closest, instantly, cheese, grating, shoulder, forearm, chipseal, bleeding, clearance, paramedics, damage, save, legs, longer, fell, fracturing, patella, stopped, responding, inputs, uncomfortable, actual, rash, dealing, joint, remain, truth, contemplating, raced, mavics, suffice, mentally, splits, towel, doc, reluctant, tent, convinced, permanent, harm, wasted, stung, easiest, marathon, effortless, 50km, 190, steps, minute, sipping, missed, celebrate, preparation, trip, reasoned, recovery, however, skipping, pushing, ensure, clock, meaningless, goal, chute, suffering, catchers, medical, debriding, rays, stitches, upside, medics, catered, steak, salad, buffet, blew, consolation, showered, hosts, graciously, hardly, rehydrated, hopped, narcotics, complaining, cliché, tough, ones, teach, gained, store, hungry, feeling, tbd, argument, base, fitness, recapitalize, professional, unfortunately, suffered, neglect, prep, illness, anywhere, recapture, healthier, triathlon, courtesy, aka, march, via, struggled, concept, avoid, million, remind, override, parents, rules, whether, agree, reminded, sometimes, judgment, dislike, fortunately, yogi, advised, cried, yoga, blocked, anne, lamott, warmly, behaved, forceful, brass, knuckle, throat, punch, bitch, grill, throwing, stars, metal, entire, rub, hotdog, justified, offered, apple, asking, forgot, sic, seconds, violated, weirdness, benign, targeted, sent, supposed, chaos, stewed, talked, leaving, alone, understand, honestly, usually, opposed, looked, corndogs, curious, designed, delicious, range, chicken, different, none, care, dietary, restrictions, vegetarians, nights, expect, bring, cook, texas, 2003, hell, hear, snuck, casual, acquaintance, starving, limit, intake, careful, sustainable, tuna, specifically, born, pescatarians, became, animals, holds, lecture, vegetarianism, impose, capable, informed, require, scaring, facts, emailed, excluded, somewhat, aggressively, odd, mail, month, responded, walked, materialized, received, texted, mutual, pictures, recognized, invited, hung, entering, kindergarten, heard, huh, husbands, decides, preview, disappear, displayed, site, display, mister, magical, widgets, thumb, forth, revision, copyediting, gif, words, uncool, heartburn, entries, live, editing, figuring, plots, cut, description, exposition, fury, originality, lush, haunting, lauren, destefano, atmospheric, tones, brenna, yovanoff, space, structurally, confusing, surprise, leave, blown, forever, comedy, laugh, typing, depressing, searches

Text of the page (random words):
ve gone through the experience of pw myself i ll be there for you when you get heartburn right before the entries go live because i was in your shoes a year ago why mara i won t pick a book unless i love the premise but in terms of big picture stuff i m told i m good with pacing world building and dialogue that said i m great at catching the small stuff i have copyediting experience and i m repeatedly told i draft very clean personally i like to think i m a great cheerleader equal parts reassuring and empathetic because i ve been at this for a long time i m a quick reader and because i m super deadline oriented i won t keep you waiting for notes or feedback joan and i are both busy but we went back and forth four or five times during the revision window last year pitch wars has been instrumental in both of our careers and that s why we love paying it forward what we re looking for in a mentee simple someone who s genuinely nice and willing to grow if it s not necessary we re not going to have you rewrite your book but that doesn t mean we aren t going to work if you can approach this experience with an open mindset then we ll be a great match also a love of pusheen doesn t hurt mister linky s magical widgets thumb linky widget will appear right here this preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site if this widget does not appear click here to display it posted by mara rae at 5 00 pm 7 comments friday may 27 2016 when another parent decides they know better than you this week i had my first experience with another mother trying to hurt me via my kid i have struggled to process it since it happened on monday because it s just such a foreign concept to me i mean there are plenty of people i don t like you know what i do i avoid them but this mom went out of her way to hurt me and the fact that she did it through jack made it a million times worse here s the story this mom we ll call her mary was nice to me when i first got here we hung out a few times our kids were both entering kindergarten at the same school and i liked her just fine i thought she liked me too my first tip off should have been a few months after i got here when i met someone new who said oh i ve heard about you from mary huh i thought that was weird but nothing had ever happened between mary and me so i didn t make much of it in fact she d had us over multiple times for playdates or parties during our time here our husbands and kids got along there was no reason to think anything was wrong between us then one day mary messaged me on a friday to ask if i d received the invitation for her son s party that weekend i immediately wrote back and said no i hadn t on saturday i texted again to ask if the party had already happened mary never wrote back again i let it go even when a mutual friend posted pictures from the party on facebook on sunday and i recognized many of the moms and kids in the photo i didn t tell jack about it because i didn t want his feelings to be hurt but then mary s son and another kid in the class told jack he hadn t been invited and i messaged mary just to ask what had happened to the invite she never wrote back a couple of weeks later i ran into mary and she somewhat aggressively told me the invite had gone to my husband s office that was odd since i d been in john s office multiple times to collect mail he was out of the country that month and never saw it but all i said was okay but i wrote you back saying we hadn t gotten it and you never responded she walked away from me the invitation never materialized i ran into her a couple of other times and she was always perfectly nice and then on sunday evening she emailed to ask if jack could go to a playdate at her house because they re moving soon and her son wanted to have a last playdate together sure i said i was happy jack wasn t being excluded and she just lives down the street i told her john would pick jack up around 5 when he got there mary said to him i hope mara s not mad but jack had two hotdogs if you know me as more than a casual acquaintance you know that i m a vegetarian i have been for a long time nearly twenty years i started eating fish when we lived in russia because i was starving but i try to limit my intake and i am careful to choose sustainable fish when i can we order our tuna online specifically for this reason john and i decided before our kids were born that they would be pescatarians i became a vegetarian in the first place because i didn t believe animals needed to die just so i could eat them and that reason still holds for me but it has become about so much more than that in the years since i m not going to lecture anyone on vegetarianism here it s a personal decision that i don t impose on anyone other than my own kids who can choose to eat meat when i believe they are capable of making informed decisions that don t require me scaring them with facts i don t think they re ready for my kids are happy and healthy that s really all anyone needs to know mary knows we are vegetarians she knows this because we have been to her house for multiple parties and pizza nights when she has always been gracious enough to offer us a veggie alternative i appreciate when people do this but i never expect it i am happy to bring something if the host doesn t know how to cook vegetarian but let s be honest this isn t texas in 2003 when i had a hell of a time being vegetarian most people can come up with a veggie alternative these days especially since we eat fish too so i was shocked to hear this from my husband i hope mara s not mad this didn t imply that she d forgotten jack didn t eat meat this didn t imply that she d tried to call or text me i was at home and she hadn t this didn t really imply that jack had snuck the hotdogs when she wasn t looking because there was no apology and let me tell you mara was mad i stewed on it for twenty four hours half the people i talked to said i should let it go because mary was leaving and there would be no future playdates the other half said i should say something because what she d done was wrong and she should know it after all mary doesn t know why i m a vegetarian she didn t know if it would make jack sick two hotdogs could make any kid sick let alone a kid who s never eaten meat jack didn t even understand what hotdogs were i was surprised he d eaten them honestly because he s usually very opposed to the idea of trying meat but i think he saw his friends eating them and they looked tasty he s eaten vegetarian corndogs and loves them and he s getting to an age where he s very curious i m not surprised jack liked the taste of hotdogs they are designed to be delicious they are also probably the last meat i d ever give to my kid some free range chicken might have been a different story but none of that really matters what matters is that a parent took my child into her care knowing his dietary restrictions and then decided that she knew better that her feelings were more important than mine i tried to let it go but i couldn t i felt like my trust had been violated and because of the other weirdness between us it didn t feel benign it felt targeted so i sent a facebook message saying i d appreciated her having jack over but in the future she may want to ask a parent before giving their child a food she knows they re not supposed to have i said that perhaps she d forgotten in the chaos of her move which was understandable i didn t believe for a second she d forgotten but i tried to give her the benefit of the doubt but that this was very important to me and i would have appreciated a call or text this was her response mara i did not forgot sic i purchased an alternative especially for him but he declined and asked for seconds that was the entire response no apology in fact she tried to rub it in my face that my kid had liked the hotdog as if the reason we don t eat meat is because it doesn t taste good as if she was justified because my child enjoyed it as if offering him an alternative that he declined i don t know what this alternative was jack mentioned that he was offered an apple and chips but he s six and i don t take everything he says at face value because he s six let her off the hook for asking me if i was okay with it or simply telling jack he d have to take it up with me as if she was right and i was wrong when i shared that with my friends the opinions of what i should do were a lot more forceful brass knuckle throat punch flame that bitch grill her time for throwing stars and full metal war fortunately i was with my yogi friend when the message came and she wisely advised that i let it go i cried through our yoga session and came home and blocked mary on facebook and then i decided to write about it because that s how i process things as anne lamott said in her wonderful book bird by bird you own everything that happened to you tell your stories if people wanted you to write warmly about them they should have behaved better i don t think i need to remind other moms that having a kid over for a playdate doesn t mean we can override his or her parents rules whether or not we agree with them but maybe i needed to be reminded that sometimes we have to trust our own judgment about people even if we don t know why they dislike us even if it means our kids might feel left out from time to time when it comes to friends there are some we re all better off without posted by mara rae at 10 01 am 2 comments labels foreign service motherhood monday march 21 2016 a beautiful disaster aka john s ironman new zealand race report i can t believe how terribly long it s been since i posted here and now i m posting on behalf of john since he doesn t have a blog but i figure it s relevant since john s training is a big part of all our lives and i ve blogged about his running in the past so without further ado here is john s ironman new zealand race report this was my third im after zurich and cozumel course atmosphere and organization were on par or superior to zurich and all of the above thoroughly outclassed cozumel this was a competitive and honest race from start to finish the mass start swim is the real deal confidence in the water is a must the bike course is challenging to the extent that it breaks up the packs and the officials were omnipresent and strict and the run is a roller lined with cheering fans from start to finish pre race clockwork very well organized and enhanced by the co location of start finish and transitions this made logistics much simpler than in cozumel swim mass start mma style death match get your war face on per the race program this is one of the last im mass start swims in the world from a safety perspective that s understandable if i d been thrown into this environment two years ago i d have been near panic a wide catch and a comfort with contact are prerequisite to a solid showing there s no doubt that this type of start is slower than starting in clean water on the one hand you re in a massive current but on the other it s hugely inefficient the course is and out back and my only critique is that the buoys are marked 1 24 or some such perhaps 1 mile segments but with zero relation to 3800m this wasn t made clear in race program t1 a healthy 1k run out of the lake and up a hill to standard im changing tents and an orderly and compact series of bike racks volunteers were abundant and helpful with wetsuit stripping and bags the mounting line was close to the bikes bike honest parcours 2x out and backs with a short extra loop for distance making in between the one or two stiff grades coming out of the town center were small chainring for sure this was unexpected but not severe the chip seal out on course was a factor but not something that would necessitate a swap from say 23c to 25c or more 90 psi was fine the course marshals were thankfully out in force and it seems to me that at the pointy end of the age groupers drafting was much less a factor than in the other races i ve competed in every penalty box i passed had 2 3 riders biding their time refreshing winds were negligible and the format made the k s click by the countryside was beautiful quintessential nz farmland mountains sheep cows and green pasture in the mist t2 same spot as t1 and just as efficient volunteers were on top of things and my bag was handed to me as i stepped over the mat run 3x rolling laps along the lake aid stations seemed to be every k or two and there wasn t a single stretch of lonely the fans here were world class interestingly there were a few sections off piste and along jogging tracks so perhaps not the fastest possible but very pleasing to have such varied terrain and scenery beautiful and right up next to the lake finish im standard that is food options weren t so good and once again no contrôlée dopage coming from an ultra background i continue to feel that wtc can and should amp up the post race chow a bit tomato soup bananas and cold pizza come on guys the entry fee demands better options vendors were selling some tasty looking food truck fare but due to personal complications below i didn t have the chance to partake the entry fee also demands at least a credible threat of drug testing this is a non sequitur but i d also love to see a t1 bike sweep with whatever mechanical doping detector uci is using these days the medal is kiwi black and white cool as is the finisher shirt john s imnz build a mitigated disaster yes it could always be worse but really at every stage more or less going back to early january and the decision to leverage the cozumel form and register for nz the universe made this one nearly insurmountable after a few unforced errors at imcz and once again just missing kona this time due to my own error i was inspired to give the distance another shot in short order i was very keen to get back on the program sooner rather than later so as to spare my family a full 12 16 week build of weekend bricks and a generally energy robbed husband father i ll spare you the bio details but this otherwise textbook build that i was fully committed to with a personally epic amount of swim volume was plagued by three plagues shigella bacterial infection cyclospora parasite and last but not least e coli bacterial infection my watts kg saw a fairly sharp improvement over a 2 3 week period but trust that it was not worth it i had multiple sick days off of work but stubbornly stuck to planned volume if not intensity despite adversity there will always be some persistence and consistency can be trained into an athlete and can become learned behaviors that shape our decisions come race day the call of the bed is strong at 5am but the fat black and the early am chlorine have their own allure marching to the sound of the guns i ve found is critical to success in life and sport and practiced enough takes the guess work out of forks in the road despite not having a single training day in the last six week...