Momma Wears Combat Boots

I'm feeling a little envious of my husband this morning. He walked out the door to get on a plane to Miami this morning. He's only going for dinner and then will be back tomorrow. How "jet set" does that sound? All slicked up in his dress clothes, flying to Miami for dinner. But, as he was leaving, he said "This guy is probably going to want to go somewhere really trendy." Aaron doesn't go for trendy. (FYI-Aaron thinks non-fried shrimp is trendy. I'm not sure he had ever even tried asparagus before he met me.)


I, however, would LOVE to go somewhere trendy. In Miami. All dressed up, having adult conversation. Yep, I'm a little jealous.


But, as they say, the grass is always greener. Turns out, he is jealous of me right now. You'll never guess why. So I'll tell you. It's because I get to wear these:

Yeah, that's right. These are real, live military combat boots. Ok, they are GI-copy Jungle Boots. The real ones are twice the price, but I'm all about the cheap imitation.
I have to confess: I love them. I mean, I really love them. I look ridiculous in them and Avery says that, when I put them on with my real, live USED (not from a dead soldier - I checked) camo pants, she "knows I'm still her mom, but I look more like a dad." Every woman's dream, right?
Now, you might be wondering why I am wearing camo pants and combat boots. It's not because I'm trying a new fashion experiment. No, it's much more insane than that. I signed up to run a Mud Run on Saturday in Fort Worth. You are required to wear pants and at least ankle-high shoes. Since I don't have either of these items that I would allow to be soaked in mud, I ordered from the Army/Navy surplus store listed on the Mud Run website.
So, about this Mud Run: A friend of mine was on a team of girls and a girl dropped out. She thought I might like it and when she told me about it, I jumped on the idea. I like to have a fitness goal and I like to do unusual work out things. Then I read the website. This thing is not a fun run. It's a 10K obstacle course in the mud. Designed by a Marine. Hence, the name: Fort Worth Marine Corps Mud Run. I like the mud idea, but after reading people's testimonies, I'm a little nervous. These are some of the reminders: "When you are crawling, crawl on your belly, like Marines. Do not crawl on your knees." "Remember to empty your pockets of mud and water as much as possible." "When running/swimming through the "English Channel" (a ditch of water, apparently) go through the middle. If you try to go through the shallow part on the sides, you have to start over."

So now I'm nervous. I wasn't going to tell anyone. But I decided that, if I told everyone (all 40 of you) that I was doing it, then I have to do it. I will have to finish because I can't get on here Sunday and say "Oh, I gave up. I couldn't do it."
So, I'm doing it. I think it will be terribly difficult, but also totally hilarious and fun. I actually can't wait. My friend and I wore our boots to boot camp (How's that for irony?) this morning, to break them in, and got lots of attention. Everyone thought they were super cool...I may start wearing them all the time. I had them on with shorts the other day (again with the breaking in) and made quite a fashion statement to all the neighbors, I'm sure.
The point is, I'm doing the Mud Run. In combat boots and fatigues. And my husband is flying to Miami to have a big fancy dinner and stay in a very nice hotel. And we are jealous of each other. See? The grass is always greener. We always want what we can't have. You never know what you have until.....ok, you get the point.
I think that, next year, we should have my mom come stay with the kids, do the Mud Run together in the morning and go out for a fancy dinner later that night. Then everybody is happy. Good plan, huh? We'll just decide about that IF I survive this weekend....