Happy Thanksgiving 2008

I'm an hour and 54 minutes into the House marathon. I thought I would take a break and write a couple of things. Oh, and I am feeling a little disappointed/cheated. I just learned that the marathon is only 23 hours not 24 like I thought. Oh, well.

What am I thankful for ....


Good health.

My husband and children - my whole family.

The belly ache laugh Laura and I had on our way home Tuesday.

The conversation Caroline and I had Wednesday morning.

Running with Barbara and Jane.

My big legs that help me run and bike.

Water. Food. Cold Coca Cola - hot cinnimon tea.

This is going to sound strange, even selfish but I'm thankful that my trimates, the moo crew experienced burnout. This was a tough year for me. Oddly, having Tom, SI and even Dennis (to a certain extent) go thru went I was going thru made it a little more bareable. Actually it sucked and it's nice to see all of slowly coming out of it.

I'm thankful for Rockman. It taught me I really can finish what ever I put my mind to. I'm not a quiter. It also taught me I'm an idiot for going and doing a 1/2 Ironman with no training. That only prolonged the burnout I was feeling. I learned a lot this year.

What is Gracie thankful for? ....

The world.

For her mom. :)

My brother.

My teddy bear.

My family.

Thanksgiving.

and most of all I am thankful for my world.

What is Zak thankful for? ....

My mom. :) :)

My house.

My car.

My heart.

My vacation to Disney World.

My family.

And I'm thankful for God.

Happy Thanksgiving. :)

O M G! We Won't Be at Dinner

Dear Patty -

I am sorry but Scott and I won't be at Thanksgiving dinner this year. Mom is coming by to pick up the kids. Please make sure they put their napkin on their lap and don't give them anything unless they say please and finish with thank you.

Scott and I will be spending all day and all night in front of the TV. I just learned there is a House marathon on USA network. If you could send some dinner over, oh lets say around 2 that would be great. You know what I like, Scott likes dark meat, potatoes, green beans and stuffing.

Just send dessert with the kids when mom brings them home.

I know you'll understand us not being there and all. This is a once in a life time 24 hours we just can't miss.

Love,

me

Just Because You Can - Does That Mean You Should?

I found myself asking that question on Sunday.

Ugh, as usual I've been fighting a cold but I decided to meet the gang Sunday morning. We have had a great turnout lately. I've gone the last 2 weeks with the intention of running just a few miles and ended up doing almost 6 each time, so this week I vowed to only run 2, a mile out and a mile back and then walk the steps until my friends returned.

Well, we got started and I was checking the Garmin about every other minute. I reached my mile mark just about mid way up the first twisting climbing miserable hill. SO, did I stop? Nope. I can't stop on a hill. I kept going. I thought, well, Barbara said she wanted to run 3 miles. I would run another 1/2 mile and turn around with her.

I'm still checking my Garmin. But now I'm talking to Ken. We have a nice conversation. I stop checking the Garmin. Before I know it we're at 104th avenue. Pat is cracking me up and I realize I have gone well over what I said I was going to do. I'm thinking that's ok, I'm keeping pace with these guys there's no reason I can't do 5.75 this morning and then my voice of reason starts screaming at me -

"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? YOU HAVEN'T EAT'N BREAKFAST, YOU HAVE NO WATER WITH YOU AND YOU'RE GETTING OVER YET ANOTHER COLD!!! GET OFF THIS TRAIL AND STICK TO YOUR PLAN!!! NOW!!!"

So, I decided to listen. I took a huge short cut and went just about 4 miles. I walked the last 1/2 mile and then did 3 turns on the steps. And I felt great afterwards. Last night I wasn't stiff at all and this morning same thing. No stiffness, no stuffy head just a little cough.

I wanted to beat myself up when I broke away from the group and shortened my route. I felt like an idiot walking up those steps but I kept telling myself this is what I need to do. And this morning I'm really glad I did. :)

Friends / Enemies

My Friends ....

My family. I'm not one of those mom's that wants to be friends with my kids but I don't want to be a tyrant either. Of course the hubby is my best friend.

Here's my brother, me and my sister. Patty is my best friend. I think twins just kind of automatically become best friends when they are born. And now that my brother and I are older I feel like our friendship has grown. At 13 I would have never said that :)

Good Old Debs. I call her my best friend. Wait didn't I just call my hubby and sister my BFF?

Yes, I'm 44 and I still use that expression. I'm a creature of habit. Look, I'm dripping water on her and she still smiling for my picture.

Caroline and Dennis. My trail BFF's. I'm starting to notice I throw Best Friend around a lot.

My bed. Well, that's not my bed. My bed's not made right now so you have settle for looking at this one.

Ah, cinnamon tea, there's no better morning best friend.

I am a time obsessed person. I could never live without this watch. The indaglo helps me check the time at night cause I can't see the alarm clock. So, it stands to reason, there is no better night time best friend! Well, for telling time.

My Enemies .....

Let's be honest. Is there anyone out there that thinks this is there friend?

Actually, this is only my enemy on a bad day running, swimming, cycling, during a sleepless night, or if I'm running late for something, which is usually everyday.

Yes, when I'm swimming in Lake Michigan, sometimes the waves do feel this big. This picture makes me want to learn how to surf. :)

In case you were wondering, that's a picture of wind. Well, wheat blowing in the wind. This is probably one of my worst enemies. It keeps me up at night, cause it scares the kids and it has made for some very difficult rides.


It's sad to say but this is one of my biggest enemies. I think this is why I hate my first enemy so much. But you know that line from the Godfather.... "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer". Well, that's what I'm doing with this enemy. :)

So what's the point of all this?

Well, I'm not sure. I couldn't sleep the other night. And I started thinking .... you know what never mind what I was thinking. Life is good.

Sunday Trot / I'm Cheating on You

We met at Swallow Cliff on Sunday morning.

I didn't keeping up with the big boys and girls. I trotted out 5.25 miles with Dennis and Tom. Tom kept going since he was feeling good. It was nice having Bubba hang back and catch up on things.

I was so happy to see our group out there. I haven't seen Gil for weeks and Dennis, jeez, honestly I can't remember the last time I saw him. And even Tom showed. I haven't talked about him for a long, long, long time. But last week-end he started riding and running again. And he was there again this week.

The only ones missing were Doug and Scott and it would have been just like the good old days. It was so good seeing everyone smiling, running, talking, laughing. I really am a mother hen if something like seeing them out there makes me so happy.

So, Sunday afternoon I get an email message from a relative. Something about a Facebook message. I ignore it cause I have no idea what Facebook is. Later that night I get another message from a friend from high school, about Facebook. This time I click the link from the message thinking if I just sign it then I'll be left alone.

Well, I felt like I opened the can of trick worms that pops out at you. I find out that all these people that I know write on Facebook. I'm thinking holy cow, how did this just happen and where did this come from.

I feel like by signing on to Facebook I'm cheating on my blog. Yes, I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous.

So, I guess between sharing my life with my husband, raising my children, hanging with the girls, training with my trimates and writing this blog, I will also check Facebook and see what the rest of the world is up too.

My Vote, Strep Throat & Are We Watching a Football Game or the Election?

Woke up Tuesday and was prepared to go and vote. I had made my decision Sunday night. I stopped watching the news and reading the internet. I didn't want to hear anymore.

Around 11 I went to the school and was so nervous after showing my identification I walked to the voting booth without my ballot. The volunteers got a good laugh. Once I did have my card I literally stood there for a couple of minutes because I had worked myself up to the point that I wasn't sure how to vote. Ok, I'm sure some of you are thinking, give me a break, if you knew who to vote for then how could you do this to yourself? Well, that's just the way I am for some reason. I finally got my wits about me and looked on the ballot and much to my surprise saw Ralph Nader's name on it. Holy smokes, is he still alive? Then I proceeded with my civic duty and walked out feeling complete relief and a sore throat.

Last night my throat was on fire so I decided to visit a doc in the box. Which I hate, so you know the throat was hurting pretty bad. The doc took a swab from the back of my throat and gagged me a couple of times. Sure enough, I tested positive for Strep. UGH! Gotta tell you the pharmacists at CVS were so nice. The filled my prescriptions ASAP. I think I was in and out of there in 10 minutes.

Watched election coverage with Scott until about 9:30 p.m. I felt like I was watching a close football game. Obama's electoral votes would increase then McCain's electoral votes would creep up. We had ABC on and they weren't saying that Obama had won but they sure acted like it. Scott was so nervous. He said he couldn't go to bed until he knew the outcome. So I told him to switch to FOX, their attitude toward the race would definitely let us know if Scott could relax and go to bed. Well, they were even saying is wasn't looking good for McCain. Scott kissed me good night and went to bed. Nothing was really happening with the news now so I switched to House for a little while and was ticked off when I realized I missed John McCain's concession speech. I did stay up for Barack Obama's acceptance speech and was glad I did. He kept it real. I hate when people say that, "keep it real" can be so flippant but there is no other way to describe that speech, he really did keep it real. I heard McCain's speech this morning, it was very moving and sincere. I do feel I need to rebut my comment about the character of both men. Last night they seemed to have our countries best interest at heart.

So this morning I wake up and Zak has a fever and swollen glads. He's home from school with me. I call the doc and he's nice enough to write him a prescription since he saw Gracie Monday and I told him I was diagnosed yesterday with Strep. Excitedly I tell Zak we don't have to drive out to see the doctor and what does he do? He starts crying, telling me he loves the doctor and really wanted to see him today. I tried not to laugh when he was crying. Parenting is hard, Gracie doesn't want to see the man in the blue coat and Zak can't wait to see him. Double UGH! (and the picture to the left is not our doctor just a model in a blue lab coat. I like putting pics on the blog :))

Now, I'm warning all of my friends and anyone else reading. I have been feeling this well of emotions building. This entire process has really affected me. I can't remember an election when I spent the time and energy checking each candidates views. I'm a very emotional person and the emotions have not come out yet. I know it's coming so, if I suddenly start crying when you are talking to me or if you see me pumping gas or on my bike and I have the ugly cry face, just ignore it. I'm ok. Oh, and they are tears of joy not sadness, just in case you were wondering.

The "P" Word

"P" is for Politics

The 2008 presidential race has been keeping me up at night - probably for the past 3 weeks. I lost the count of the number after about 7 nights of waking at about 2 in morning.


Literally my mind is going back and forth. I put a spread sheet together hoping is would help me reach a conclusion. I'm still reading it and rereading it.



The last time I felt this way was when Ross Perot was running in the presidential primary. I ended up voting for him. Its funny because when I tell people that, they say they voted for him too. I wonder how he lost?I probably wouldn't be having trouble deciding today if he would have won back then.


While running with the gang on Sunday the election was brought up. It's funny. We all have an opinion but no one really wants to talk about it. Maybe it has more to do with respecting one another opinion than not wanting talk about it.

There is one conclusion I can make about this election. All of the conspiracy theories, mud slinging, and back stabbing from both candidates reminds me of 5th grade when the kids from the south school had to come to my school for the year because their school was being renovated. In the beginning we called each other names, called each other's mother's names, wrote slurs on the bathroom walls, and so on .... but by the end of the year we all got a long. We were 11 tho, that's a pretty good excuse for acting the way we did. Unfortunately these are grown men, who have to be at least 45 years old to run for president. So what does that say about their character?

My mind is so cluttered because instead of sticking to the facts I had to put up with so much smack talk it made it hard to keep the real issues in focus. I watched the debates and instead of hearing answers to the questions I heard rehearsed rhetoric. Why bother with debates if you're going to rehearse them. Did our country make so hard for these men to keep it real? UGH!!!

I will vote Tuesday. My vote will, if not to anyone else than to myself. Hopefully I'll start sleeping again Tuesday night.