2009

B - bye.

Good Riddance.

Adios.

Smell ya later.

Ok, it wasn't that bad.

I would like to write about what I learned and how much stronger I am from it but - crap - I'm just not in the mood. Quite honestly, I would only be repeating everything I've written over the last 12 months.

Here's some pics of what my year was like. Thank you for stopping by and reading. I look forward to sharing 2010 with you.


So, why would I put up a picture of Valerie Bertinelli on my blog? .... I don't know if it was a lack of training or the hormones from the thyroid or what but I suddenly developed, um, how can I say it without embaressing myself ..... I guess I just did.

One night I'm putting laundry away and Zak walks into my room holding this magazine and says to me, "Mom, did you know you were growing these?" and points right to her chest.

I think Zak is going to be a boob man.



I still can not eat French Onion soup. I miss you French Onion soup. :(



There are certain phone calls we never want to get. The loved one in a car accident, the hubby in a bar fight - bring bail money, or my favorite, your six year old son is dropping the F-bomb in school.



Over spring break I brought the kids to Legoland. They had fun but this was a time I was at the peak of hormone overload and my patience were non-existent.

Can you figure out what's missing from this model of Navy Pier?....

This little boy has know idea just how close he came to being beaten bloody.







Yes, this little green box - or lack of 16 little boxes almost caused me a heart attack on Duathlon Day. Thanks to My Bike of Tinley Park and the Tinley Park Fire Department a complete catastrophe was averted. I hate Wilson rental.

The kids learned to ride 2 wheelers this summer .....

and

got to visit daddy at work.

The family took a trip to Ohio

and

I took a trip to Louisville.

I had to say goodbye to my beautiful friend .

I was blessed to be included in a new life.

I danced and sang like a teenager with my sister at the Bruce Springsteen concert in September ....

and

we relived our teenage years during our summer walks to 7 - 11 for sluperees and twix bars.

What is scarier ..... being 16 and pregnant or 45 and pregnant? Hmmm ......

We'll never know what's scarier- all 4 test came out negative - Grave's disease plays ugly tricks with your hormones.

My mom turned 75 this year - she just doesn't seem that old to me.






We had princess Leah and Snakes Eyes over on October 31st and thanks to our very generous friends Jeff and Barbara, Gracie got her Halloween wish to have decorations in the yard.





We went sledding a lot and and enjoyed Christmas .....

One of the best parts of the year -

I discovered running doesn't completely define who I am.

and

I rediscovered the joy of doing.


Happy New Year. May your 2010 be blessed with good health and happiness. :)

Merry Christmas

Dear Friends and Family -

Please accept my apology for not getting a Christmas card to you this year. Money is tight and about to get tighter with Scott having hip surgery in February. It has been suggested by a dear Minnesota friend to post a picture from Christmas morning. Well, I will but I also thought I would post the one I was going to use for the card this year. I kinda of pride myself on weeding thru all the pics I take throughout the year and send an "in the moment picture" of the kids instead of a posed one. There have been exceptions to this rule, last year Scott's mom made the elf costumes for the kids so I had use it.

So here it is. Along with the saying I would have put on the card. God bless all of you with a healthy, happy 2010.

Love Pam


Merry Christmas
May 2010 be blessed with
uplifting moments of happiness


Love,
Pam and Scott
Zak and Grace

Interesting Running Conversation

So, I'm running with a friend a couple of weeks ago and we start talking about annoying people. And I make the mistake of saying, "I'm not annoying am I? Wait, of course I'm annoying" I say. Just as I'm saying it, I look at my friend and I see him looking back at me with the = geesh, annoying, of course you are, you don't know that by now? ..... who are you kidding?! look on his face :)

Ok, he didn't say any of that but, it was the look. You know, we all know that look. The one we give when we don't think the other person is looking. But every once in a while. The person you are giving the "look" to catches ya. Well, I caught my running buddy.

He denied the "look" and then started talking about something else that annoys him but I know what I saw.

Here's my point. We are all annoying. Some of us more than others but we all have the annoying gene. Those that can tolerate that gene, the most annoying part of us, those are the ones we call our friends.

Thankfully, I have running/cycling friends that somehow tolerate that I get happy and excited when I see someone getting ready to run with us. They ignore how annoying my questions can get and they answer them. They accept that I may laugh at inappropriate times and they let me talk, non-stop about my kids. I could go, but why it could start to get really annoying.

So, thank you training buddies. Thanks for letting me be awkwardly annoying.