Fall Run

I think this may have been the last time I see South Fork Canyon without snow until spring.

Sad . .. 

There's hard, and then there's harder

I'm a regular complainer lately.

Somewhere along the way we've turned a corner,

and parenting the boys has become very hard for me.

I feel like I have less control,  that they listen less, that I am less of a parent.

I'm struggling!


But, as is the case, when I whine -

I get it pointed out that my life ain't so bad.

I've heard heart wrenching parenting stories at work,

from parents and grandparents.

I call to make appointments to help kids,

And get sobbing parents and grandparents who are at their breaking points.


Yes, suddenly my hard life doesn't look so bad.


There's Hard, but then there's Harder.

And then I feel grateful and try to re-group.

While I pray for total strangers.

What do you get?

What do you get when the Science teacher hands out these:

To this person:

A BLACK EYE!!:

Thanks, science teacher, for handing these poppers out to boys who want to see what happens when they stick them to their bodies!  Dur!

26.2

I wanted to share my experience with you all by posting one photo for each of the miles I ran yesterday.

But I ran into some snags with that idea . . . . 

So here's the first 13 miles in photos!

This is mile 0 -- More accurately, this is all of us in a tent trying to stay out of the rain pour that started just before the race started.  This is our view when the start gun (muzzle loader) was fired. Ah, nice start!

 

Mile 1 -- People think they are hot and leave clothes on the side of the road.  We are all bundled up and running at this point, not willing to give up any clothes.

Mile 2 -- Time to use the Handi Hut!  Oh, Honey Buckets, I missed you.  You are the best port-a-potty around, this one just wasn't the same.

 Mile 3 -- First aid station.  Apparently this set of folks run the mile 3 station every year.  They are runners also, but like to help out in this way.  The flags were an awesome touch!

Mile 4 -- Pretty run down the canyon!

Mile 5 -- There were some great signs along the course.  It was really fun to see the message that were left for people.

Mile 6 -- We just came through our first hail storm!  Look at my freezing arms -- at some point I thought my arm would just fall off!

Mile 7 -- Here's are awesome race bibs.  Melanie is 3055, Jamie is 3052 and I'm 3044

Mile 8 -- I have a steady drip of rain water running off my hat.  I think that's gonna be the worst of it, but I was so, so wrong!

Mile 9 -- Two miles after it happens we take a closer look at Jamie's leg.  She has fallen out of the Handi Hut and had a crash landing.  That's two falls in the last two races for Jamie, maybe it's a sign.

Mile 10 -- More hail.  We run in it, we cry in it, we end up laughing in it.  At some point this race has become completely ridiculous!

Mile 11 -- Low lying clouds.  We hear lots of thunder claps over head followed by intense rain.

Mile 12 -- More water .. . this time we like it because it's in a river.

Mile 13 -- We are about to the bottom of the canyon.  A waterfall in the distance is nice, but we are soaked!  The camera is soaked and the battery is dead.  We hand the camera off to Jeff at Mile 14 and wish we could hand ourselves off too.  

We ended up finishing the race in just over 6 1/2 hours.  It was very hard and quite the accomplishment for us.   I was happy that I didn't ever get completely overwhelmed or angry.  We kept our wits about us.  I appreciated Jamie for bringing along some stories that she'd read to us every once in awhile.  I appreciate Jeff and Emma coming along and checking on us during the race.  And it was great to see Tani and the kids at the finish line!

This was really a hard thing we trained to do.  The time it has taken away from my family, my schedule, Ethan's football game, Josh's Homecoming dance, and many other things, has been hard.  I think that although I feel great about finishing, I won't do this again.  It was a sacrifice for my whole family for me to do this, and I love them for helping me finish!

And to my two running partners, I couldn't have made it without you gals.  Thanks for going on these crazy adventures with me and pushing me through to the end!

P.S.  When I get a photo of the finish line and medal I'll post that!

Freaking Out

So, for over a month I've not blogged.

And apparently not blogging has made me hold in all my stress.

So today, I'm FREAKING out.

What am I freaking out about?

Lots --

1st -- Running a freaking marathon next Saturday.  I can't just be stressed about running 26.2 miles, but I'm freaking out about how coming in last will be perceived.  I just can't be happy with the miles, I have to not be last either.  Don't know why this is bothering me so much, but it is.  And there's nothing I can do about it now.

2nd -- Homecoming.  I'm freaking out that my baby is going to the Homecoming dance on Saturday.  He's so grown up now and I'm not loving that. (Except for when he can drive himself places - and then I LOVE it).  And the freakin' part of this is that I will be running a MARATHON instead of being at home to help him with the day date and maybe getting ready!!

3rd -- Sunday School & Embarrassing my kid.  So I teach Sunday School now.  Specifically, Ethan's class.  I'm 2 for 2 on embarrassing him in class.  I like to add a little 'personal' touch to the lessons which involve stories about my and Ethan's relationship.  He would like me to go teach another class.  Maybe this item is more of Ethan Freaking out.  I just feel bad that I can't keep my mouth shut.

4th -- Amazing Race & Biggest Loser are starting in the next few weeks.  Although I'm not really freaking out about it, there is a certain amount of anticipation that is making me happy right now.

5th  -- And to not leave out Emma, I could probably say I'm freaking out about here homework and violin practice.  I am just not getting into the swing of things with her yet.  It's a tough one to get these two things done with her.

Ah goodtimes!

Browsing

Seems like this summer has been one long sick day.

Jeff has been hacking and coughing for two months now.

Josh has been ill with Bronchitis for a good three weeks.

I am getting a sore throat (which I hope will be super bad on Saturday so I don't have to run 16 miles), 

And Ethan can't seem to get sick no matter what he does.  Poor kid hasn't been able to lay around the house at all.  

And Emma has had an 'Ear Confection.'

At least that's what she calls any little bit of water in her ear. . . . 

So I went on line to do some browsing to learn more about 'Ear Confections'.

And here's a picture of one:

Tasty, eh?

Skeleton

So, skeleton was a stupid word to get in the middle of summer.

I really toyed with how to approach this. . . . 

First, I thought I'd take a look at my own skeleton just to see how it was doing.  Conclusion:  I don't even think there's a skeleton underneath all this flab.  I should go on a diet.  I don't like diets, therefore I don't like skeletons.

Second, I thought about a skeleton crew this week when they split our ward and redrew boundaries.  We were left with a skeleton crew of a ward, and so was everyone else.  Once again, I don't like ward splits, so I don't like skeletons.  Although I do like crews -- it's just a cool kinda word.

Third, I thought about skeletons in my closet.  I decided that if I have one in there - it's staying there!

Anyway, skeleton was a bad word to pick this week, and it made me take to long to post about how I hate the word.  So let's pick a new word, shall we?

And the new word is:

BROWSING

Word 6

And the word is:  SKELETON

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS

Tulle

Cardboard

Cotton batting

Ribbons

Beads

Running Shirt

Iron Ons

Running Skirt

Muddy 4 Mile Obstacle Course

3 Runninng Buddies

RESULTS:

The Cotton Rockettes running in the "Kiss Me Dirty" Race

Thanks to Jaime, we were rockin' celebs in our costumes.  We had people laughing and wanting to take our photos.  One group of people watched us walk by and we heard one ask her friends if we were chefs.  Her friend said, "Those aren't chefs . . . . "  

Another little girl asked her daddy what we were, he took a second look and just started laughing.  Poor girl won't find out what we were from him and probably not for another 10 years from anyone.

We ran over hay bales, through tires, over a climbing wall, under an army crawl, down a COLD river and through tubes.  It was really hard coming off of no sleep at girls camp, but it was fun!

And my awesome family surprised me by getting up early and coming to watch us.  I'll have to add a photo later of me and Josh and Ethan.  Not sure how those boys felt watching their muddy mom dressed up like a tampon. .  ..   Ha!  So funny!

Word 5

Word 5 is INGREDIENT!

Please do NOT think I'm going to use that word in relation to cooking.  Although that would make a real interesting blog post . . . .