Sniff! Laura and Ryan went home this morning, Gabriel went to school, and routine picks up again. But not before one last hugfest with Julian.
Dave took the day off work today, which gave me a chance for a much-overdue run. I thought it'd be a bust, since I've been fighting a low-grade migraine for 8 days now, and I could feel it building again this morning. But chances for jogging-stroller-free runs are few now, so I grabbed it while I could. I was really anxious to hit the trails just to free and clear my mind -- being out in the hills and trees and natural setting is downright soul-cleansing.
I wound up doing my longest run yet, just shy of 10 miles. I ran the PG&E trail again, but this time, I went the other way, approaching the pinnacle via Upper High Meadow trail. I suspected this way would be somewhat easier, as the climbs are spread out across more miles, but it was more than "somewhat" easier, it was a whole heck of a lot easier. Running back down the PG&E trail reminded me how many steep, long, difficult climbs there are. If I hadn't done it once, I'd have thought today while going down, that there was no way I'd make it up.
When I got home, Katrina was still asleep for what would be her one nap of the day. This freed us to go to a park this afternoon, so we went to the toddler area at Creekside to meet up with the 2004 group. Julian really never spent a lot of time there, since by the time he was old enough to play on the play structures, Gabriel had outgrown it. Actually, now Julian's outgrown it too, but he was quite happy there today.
Katrina hasn't been on a lot of play structures, so this was new to her too.
She had a great time playing in the tunnel, making an attempt to crawl down the short step out of it (a first), and crawling back and forth in it.
I met up with one 2004 mom I hadn't met, and got some chatting in too.
On the way back from the park, we picked up Gabriel. Within minutes, the sky turned black, the air putrid, and a swarm of locusts fell upon us. Gabriel was on a mission to cause a fight, and when he sets his mind to something, there is no stopping him.
It started with Gabriel shouting that he didn't want to hear Red Hot Chili Peppers Song #2, which I was playing at Julian's request. I ignored his insults, demands and blood-curdling threats ("You're not allowed in the house now, Mom!"), and brought the bunch inside. Or tried. Gabriel put his full weight against the door and tried to keep me out, so I pushed it door open and carefully pushed through, as I was carrying bags and Katrina.
The writing was on the wall: we were headed for a big long drawn-out fight. After he made a move to hit me, I sent him to his room. Time to remove the caustic agent! But first, he had a parting shot: he knocked over the little bookcase next to the front door, which came down with a loud crash that made Dave run in to see what had happened. Thank goodness I hadn't set Katrina down yet. As it is, a wooden knob on the bookcase caused a deep dent in the old oak floor.
What do you do for such an infraction? He got a spanking and was sent to his room for the rest of the evening, coming down only for dinner. Even then, he was rude and insulting, but I managed to ignore it. Julian requested a Draco story, and despite Gabriel's obnoxious demands to stop, he ended up getting sucked into the story, and dinner went pretty well after that. But no cookies, and straight back upstairs after dinner. As I type, I hear Gabriel throwing things around his room, apparently missing out on storytime for threatening to hit Dave and Julian with a plastic toy during the bath-bedtime process.
I don't know what happened to him today. He was in a good mood when I picked him up, but it all went awry with the wrong song. I'm happy to say this doesn't happen often anymore, but it's an ugly preview of what could come when he's a teenager. When he wants to dish it out, he has no equal.
I need another long steep run up the PG&E trail. It's less painful.
9/4/07
p.s. today's route:
According to Rancho Runner:
10) Parking -> Lower Meadow -> Farm Bypass -> Coyote -> Farm ->
Rogue Valley -> Upper Rogue Valley -> Upper High Meadow -> PG&E ->
Wildcat Loop (NE) -> Coyote -> Parking
Results for route: 1efwu3mlkr654tuwv21
Route Miles Up Down
1E 0.30 15 0
EF 0.54 40 0
FW 0.23 120 0
WU 0.25 0 50
U3 0.15 0 20
3M 0.31 25 0
ML 0.69 125 0
LK 0.51 75 0
KR 1.00 400 0
R6 0.32 60 0
65 1.26 520 0
54 1.86 100 1020
4T 0.12 0 80
TU 0.53 0 180
UW 0.25 50 0
WV 0.67 120 0
V2 0.51 0 195
21 0.29 30 0
Total Distance = 9.79 Miles, 1680 feet of climbing
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