Yay for Me

This weekend I did something I never thought I would do. I ran/walked the SLC Half Marathon. I have never been an athlete. I have never been a runner. I have been thin before, but I have never been strong. Probably my most vivid memory of high school (I don't have many...most of high school I have blocked) was knowing that my death was almost certain as I tried to complete the 16 minute mile for Coach Stuart's PE class. I barely made it...like by seconds...and I can honestly say it was one of the worst experiences of my life. Last May I started a Mommy and Me stroller class and was so tired I had to lie down on the cement because I again thought I was going to die. Both experiences sucked.

In honor of turning 30, I decided this year was the year to change all that. I started "running" for the first time in my life in October and have slowly worked my way up. My only goal for the race was to finish and to hopefully not be miserable during the process. I have tolerated my training runs, but I haven't ever enjoyed them. So, imagine my suprise, when I couldn't stop smiling through the race. I LOVED it! I achieved my goal of finishing and enjoying the race, Two days later my legs feel good and I'm mobile. My time wasn't great, but I've come a long way from the 18 year old who nearly died of exhaustion on the streets of Randolph. Yay for me!

The picture above is of Jeff, me and my friend Janelle. Janelle is an inspiration as I don't think she has missed a workout in years. I'm glad to have her to motivate me! Thank goodness for peer pressure!

Cow Part II

I was hoping the cow was a joke. I was hoping it, like so many other big ideas, would not come to fruition. I wish this was an April Fools Day joke. It is not. There is a cow in the corral. It's name is Dinner. Carter calls it a "steak cow" and is counting the days until we can kill it. Jeff and I have tried to be gentle about the eventual demise of the cow. Jeff suggested that it would go to a place, where it would "put it to sleep" and they'd turn it into meat. Carter's reply was, "that won't work, they need sharp things." He then asked when we would "shoot it". If you ask him now, "we are trying to see if we can keep it alive until Thanksgiving and then we'll turn it into steak. I love steak so much." Good for Carter. I, on the other hand, am not sure I'll ever be able to eat steak again.

Ewwww

What a week. It began with our washer having a meltdown. Suffice to say there was a flood, some swearing, a call to the repair place (who couldn't fit me into their schedule for 2.5 days...WHAT!!!), more swearing, and then Jeff came home. Thank goodness for Jeff, who insisted on working on it until late that night and getting it fixed. THANK GOODNESS...because at 5:30AM the next morning I heard the sound all parents dread, the sound of your child vomiting. I'm not going into the details, but let's just say it was bad...really, really bad. I washed everything we own on the sanitary cycle. I sprayed Lysol everywhere, multiple times. We washed and "Germ X'd" our hands until they were raw. Carter recovered and we all seemed well. We saw the much anticipated Monsters vs. Aliens. We visited friends and family. It seemed we had stopped the spread of the disease. Nope, it was not to be. Six days later Spike and I and woke up feeling, let's say, less than ideal. Cindy called, she was sick and praying for her death. Gil had to come home from work to help the lot of us. What a mess. The laundry/lysol/cleaning continues...Apparently though, there is a silver lining. Jeff told me to be thankful, I "got a cleanse that people pay hundreds of dollars for for free." I will remind him of that if, and when he gets sick.