Florida Day 3/ Race Day

This pic was our 'pre race' photo. We were leaving our hotel room at 5am (4 am CST) to head to the start line.
We got there in time to use the port-a-potty, and stretch. We met up with Dr Al and his beautiful wife Jaynie. They were taking it easy today and they still kicked our butts!!!
When we first took off it was DARK. Some people had head lamps on, the race crew did set up some portable lights to direct us through some residential neighborhoods. All around us people had watches, ipods and garmins beeping. (Telling them when to run and walk.)
I kept thinking my watch alarm was going off.
Shortly after we pass the 4 or 5 mile mark we met the FIRST PLACE HALF MARATHON FINISHER on his way back to the start.
Yes. Insane.
We hadn't even made it to the bridge yet!

I was surprsed by how many old people (including Dr Al~ just kidding!) were doing the race. We finally turned for the bridge. I was a little worried about that but the climb kind of felt good. It stretched my muscles out and the down was really nice for my speed. I kept close to Sara for the first half, but then on my last climb up the bridge she slowed to walk, but my hips were too sore. I needed to keep moving. Shortly after my 'power song' came on my ipod. (Girlfriend by Avril Lange) That song has a perfect pick up beat for me.

After the bridge I took the GU I had in my pocket slowed to swallow it down with some water. After that I only slowed to drink water. (I can't drink and run) I was suprised to be passing people. I was usually the one being passed.

One neighbor cut up a bunch of apples and strawberries for us runners!! How Sweet! There were loads of people cheering, it helped push through the screams from my left leg. My ankle was the first to let me know it was not happy, then my calf at mile 11 was asking me to stop. I was taking water everytime. I switched to Gatorade. My finish time was just over 2 hrs and 30 minutes, but I took my time in the begining and just tried to take it all in and.... Have fun! (Really!) We couldn't find Dr Al and Jaynie at the end of the Race because they were already getting a free Massage!! (Lucky!) Dr Al had a REALLY LONG ONE, he kept schmoozing the guy to get a longer one.

After the race we came back to our hotel and CRASHED. We both showered and slept. That felt great. We wobbled a bit and took something for the pain, then ate lunch at a place called Big Al's. It is a complete guys place, we learned. Duner would have LOVED IT. One wall alone had 5 TV's on it. All on Sports channels. I enjoys BBQ ribs and chicken. Yum!
Then we decided to drive to Siesta Key Beach and check that out. I was glad to see "low Hazard' conditions and not "marine life hazard".
I heard about how great this beach is and it truly is like walking on baby powder, VERY fine white sand. No shells. Nice. We may go there tomorrow before we leave again.

It was overcast today, so we will see about getting some rays.



As you can see it was a bit chilly. But still beautiful, actually busy too!

The sand was so fine it held the shoe imprint details.













And then we relaxed by the pool. It too was a bit chilly, but felt good on the muscles. it was heated at 87 degrees. Spent some time in the hot tub too.

Ahhhhh. It feels good to be done.

I can't believe I fly back tomorrow. We will see if my flights go better. I hope so. I have layovers of less than one hour each time, so that doesn't leave much time for error. Yikes!

Before we leave we are going to check out Body Worlds in Tampa.

Florida Day 2

Today's post will be one of pictures... so if you can not see 'em, you may not be disappointed, but this will hamper your enjoyment.
You better check my blog directly... Ok, so why are my feet in the first picture? Because that is how they look BEFORE Myakka River State park... and....

This is them after... note the lovely open blister on the side of my right foot.
Yeah.
That felt great! Tryin' to beat up the feet PRIOR TO THE RACE.

These are black vultures. They are everywhere in this park. One park person said 4 years ago when the river flooded, there were about 3000 of them eating the dead fish that were lost on the shore.
Oh and those long black things are alligtors. Yep, Hanging out with the vultures. I think there was 5 of them. This park also has a problem with wild boars. Yep. Specifically 2000, roaming the park. They just had a trapper come in this year and he got out 1000 of them... They are trying to get down to 60. We didn't see any of them though.
This bridge is our halfway point for the run tomorrow. Yep, begining at mile 5 we will run up, down, up and down this sucker then go back 5 miles again. Delightful? No?
We took a tour through the State Park on an airboat, we saw this Mommy and Daddy (if you look close you can see a baby at the feet of Mommy on the right.) Thankfully the 14 ft Alligator that calls this area home was hiding on us. *Whew* (The tour guide said his name is Fred)

My sister on the canopy walkway that they built in 2000. You climb a staircase 35-40 feet in the air, then walk on this wood and wire walkway across to another tower that you can climb up to 70 feet. The second tower was more like the one at High Cliff State Park.
This was one of the first Alligators we saw going into the park. It was hanging out across the narrow river from a fisherman who described his fishing as 'slow' today. Hmmmm.
One of my favorite pics from yesterday. Ahhh. Just take me away.
No this is not a business.
No it is not a hospital or institution...
it is someone's SUMMER/ VACATION home! I know insane. It is rumored to be the founder of IAM's pet food. I think somebody is overpricing the product just a bit.
Well, that ends your tour of Florida for the day, Check back next time for our tales of terror from the track followed by beach time bliss... ahhhh.
Have a great night!

Florida Day 1

Today I woke up by 9:30. I couldn't sleep. Yep. 5 hours after going to sleep. I laid in bed for 15 minutes then I walked down to get some breakfast. Our hotel has breakfast included. I didn't want to wake up Sara so I tried to be quiet. I was amazed at how warm it was out side already. Shortly after I came back she woke up. We had plans for lunch so we had to leave by 11am or so.
We met Dr. Al, who showed us the sights of St. Armands Circle and notable places nearby. There is lots of history in this area. Mainly the Ringling Circus kind. We ate at a burger shack near a bridge that we are running over. We discussed the race plan, when to get there, when and what to eat, what to wear (of course!) and checked out some cool finishers medals from last year.
After we left Dr Al, my sister and I walked along Lido Key. The water was beautiful but cool. Our feet were pumiced by all the tons of bits of broken shells on the shore.
We headed back to the hotel and waited for the race packet pick up at 4pm. I had picked up a camera just before I left Appleton, but the memory card it came with only holds 10 pictures so after downloading them, we stopped by the convention center to shop and pick up our packets. Here is all the shwag I picked up:

We tried to stop by Bonefish Grill for Supper, but the parking lot was full, so we ended up at Captain Curts Crab Shack and Oyster Bar. I had WORLD CHAMPION clam chowder,grilled shrimp and roasted red potatoes. It was pretty good.
Now we are back in the hotel room watching O Brother, Where art thou on TV. We love that movie. Then we are calling it an early night. We are tired.

Waiting

Duner drove me out to the airport and dropped my off by 9:15am, since he was on nights last night I didn't expect him to sit and wait with me. My flight was supposed to leave at 10:40 but it ended up not leaving til almost 1pm. At least A-town has free internet. Yay! I was able to watch a movie on Netflix to kill time. No word on why they were delayed but when we got to Detroit it was very WINDY. I was wondering what kind of pilot we had til I saw a flag straight out on a pole.

I got some lunch from Quiznos here in the Detroit airport and played on the internet. I got on my 2nd of 3 flights with only a 40 minute delay we were off. I believe our plane was held up waiting for a passenger from a connecting flight. We made up some time in the air because we were only 10 minutes late when we got to Memphis.
I was supposed to have only an hour lay over in Memphis.

Oh, we got on the plane about the right time.
We got up in the air about the right time.
About 40 minutes into the 1 hour and 25 minute flight the pilot announces "Due to some pressure problems that we can't seem to fix, we can not clime more than 10000 feet, so have to turn back to Memphis and fix the problem."
You can imagine the delight in the passengers at that announcement. I was lucky enough to sit next to a man that enjoyed his alcohol, and knew everything.
I scrabbled to send a text message to my sister who was waiting for me in Tampa at the Airport, but I was not able to get a signal. By the time we got back to Memphis it was 9:30 CST. It was so hard to keep track of the time zones yesterday. I was in 4.
Wisconsin CST.
Michigan EST.
Tennesse CST.
Florida EST.
NWA gave us snacks and let us leave the plane, I had been traveling for 12 hours and was not going to sit around anymore. I began to walk laps. I learned a lot from the crew by over hearing things.
When we landed we got a new pilot and co-pilot. They were 'illeagal' and were not able to fly again that night. They also decided to send the flight crew home as well, It takes 2 hrs for the new crew to arrive. They said they called them when we were still in the air. At first my arrival time at Tampa was supposed to be 10:30pmEST, then moved to 12:12am EST (after we first landed back in Memphis) then it became 1:37am EST. I arrived in TAMPA at 2am EST. Only 3 1/2 hours after I was supposed to in a heavy fog. Thankfully they rewarded our time delay with a $100 credit voucher, I haven't read it too close but you can bet I will try to use it when I can!
I kept calling our hotel to let them know how late we were, we pulled in to the parking lot about 4 am EST, and by 4:20 we were in bed.

Holding Pattern

So, I am up at 5 am for no real reason. Just that I can not sleep.

In 5 hours I board a plane for Detroit, only to sit for about 5 hours there, then go on to Florida. (Thank God for Netflix! I will be able to watch movies instantly while I wait.) I keep going over in my head some last minute things I need to do. Like bring Reece's Cello to Grandma's and Zebs eye medicine (for some lovely impetigo) that he developed to Grandma's as well.

My sister arrived there and said that it was a humid 74 degrees in Tampa yesterday. Sure beats 30 degrees and cloudy up here.

I am all checked in. Just waiting to leave.
Oh yeah, the kids are getting up. Time to get them ready for School.

My lil' Marathoner...

Every Tuesday night I bring Reece to the Y for Fit-n-Fun class. I signed him up without his approval because it is a frigid winter and he was sitting on the computer more than any other kids we have.
We are about 3 weeks into that class and tonight, Brock decided he wanted to tag along with me to the Y.

'Ok. Sure." I said. Kinda surprised. He is generally not active but he wanted to walk/run the track.
I said " If you go, I am running my 2 miles today at the Y. So you will have to watch Zeb on the Track til I am done."
"Ok" he said.

Hmmmm.

I wasn't getting to excited about it I figured it was a one time thing. While I ran my miles, Brock walked and ran with Zeb. Everytime I passed them they tried to keep up with me for a bit, then they would stop. By 20 minutes, I finished I took Zeb and we headed downstairs to watch Reece for the next 25 minutes.
Brock asked to keep walking the track til Reece gets finished. Sure No Problem.

When he finished, Brock came up to me and said " I bet I could get some girls if I can do that track for a long time".

Now he is GETTING IT!! This is MY THING. Of course, I promptly said...

"Why don't you do a half marathon with me? Fox Cities Marathon is in September, why not do it with me?" I said.
"Ok, but I'll walk some." he said. Then he asked about the class they have at the Y to be allowed into the lifestyle center. He is 13 (almost 14) but has to be 15 to be able to be in the Lifestyle center. We walked to the front desk and I showed him the class discription and the dates and times of the class. He was bummed because I can't sign him up til after the Half Marathon in February, but he wants to continue to walk/run the track with me.

YEEESSSS!!! Finally!!

It only took 4 years of Triathlons and Marathon to get one of my kids truly into it on their own terms! Ok, the posibility of girls probably helped too, but still!!

Unexpected.

Unexpected #1
Brock has been playing with a friends PS3 lately and is consumed with the urge to pick up one of those babies and one particular game. Something with Zombies and things that I really don't like Zeb to see. AND, since we just got them a Wii for Christmas, I will not be getting the PS3 anytime soon... if he continues to bring it up, he will not have one til he is 18 and can buy it himself.
Unexpected #2
I have been plugging away at the training for the marathon. I was thinking I had to do 7 miles on Thursday, but afterwards, I found out it was six. opps. he. he. Thats ok. I was really impressed with my time. One hour and seven minutes. I have a stopwatch that I use for my laps, and I was able to run a mile in 9:30. I wanted to make sure I didn't mess up, so I hopped on the treadmil for a mile and sure enough I was actually doing that well. Now, I have been running for 3 years with VERY LITTLE improvement on my time, I am not exactly sure what I am doing but yay! That is over 30 second improvement and I wasn't pushing really hard to get it done. I did only one mile on the treadmill. I really like to feel the breeze as I run the track... it helps cool me down.
Unexpected #3
Not too long ago we had a meeting at work and my manager had mentioned something about a position they are creating for Training Specialist. It is full time, more money and more traveling and you train old and new employees on the 'better' ways to do things. It sounded interesting so I applied. I don't want full time, but if the hours are 4 ten hour days that wouldn't be so bad. I managed to get a phone interview for Tuesday , but we will see how that will go. I hate interviews. I am not holding my breath.
Unexpected #4
Today we shut the clinic down due to a ill MD, and no coverage.
That was a great surprise considering, the kids already were off due to a half day of school. So, Duner and I took them to Tom's Drive in for Lunch and to see the movie Hotel for Dogs. Cute movie.
Now, I must head to bed, I have to work a double shift at they Y tomorrow. FUN!

Yep, He is all Mine.

Yesterday was a long 7 mile run. We got 'er done, but when I returned home my oldest informed me that he thinks he broke his toe. Now, I have broken both of my pinky toes at various times since I was 18, but never on some stairs.

I swear chairs and tables jump in front of me...
ok.
...so I have rather large stumps.

So, I have some experience with broken toes. I told him they do NOTHING for your toes when you break them. (unless they are displaced, I am sure) I did get a fancy 'shoe' thing but since he has bigger feet then me, and the particular toe involved.... he was out of luck.

It didn't sound that way. When he showed me it was already black at the base of his toenail. I said " Congrats, Your about to lose your toenail". A wave of panic set over him...

When he was really little, being my first born, I wasn't perfect with cutting his finger and toenails without pain... so he tells me anyway. So, he gets really possessive of his nails.

"What? Will that hurt?"
I did my best to explain that but I can't remember losing a nail, but I am pretty sure I had some lost one when I was young. I didn't like to wear shoes in the summer, and I rode my bike a lot.... equals sore toes, and knees.
Anyway, I took a peak at it again today and now it was pretty swollen and even more black and blueish... Yep, I am pretty sure it is broken, but he can manage to get his HUGE shoes on, but gym class is going to be tricky... I may be checking into an gym class excuse for a week or two for him.

Tonight I told him to lay down with some ice and put his foot up. At least he can get some of the swelling down before school tomorrow.


He developed a system for attaching an ice pack to his foot to help get better.

He doesn't rest real well.

But Sunday night he somehow set his alarm clock for 12:35 am and kept hitting snooze til 3am, when he finally turned it off. Then I woke him up at 6am to get on the bus by 6:45am, which he missed...

If it weren't for bad luck he wouldn't have any luck at all...

It can only get better right?

Opps!

This Christmas was Reece's FIRST favorite one, (second was the pool table and air hockey last year he said). The boys, with help from Aunt Sara, got a Wii. Complete with Wii Fit, Wii Sports, Guitar Hero, Mario Karts and 3 controllers and a few other games... the boys have been having fun with it so far. I managed to hop on it today for 20 minutes and created a Wii Mii. (We-Me), My very own person. I LOVE how much it said I weigh!! I know that it wasn't right but it was a nice thought. I did some balance exercises and ski jumping (only 4 tries) the first one I bombed... but the next 3 were great. That was the longest I have been on it so far.

Well, We have had our first Wii injury. Ok, not bad, but enough that Zeb didn't want to play the rest of the night. He was playing baseball with the boys and after his swing his arm dropped right onto a table that was in the room, hitting his fingers. He is all good now... I am sure it won't be the last, but at least the kids are moving around, instead of staring at a screen only.

Speaking of Zeb... Today Reece was explaining how his zipper is broke. It is missing that piece used to pull the zipper up... After he explained how it keeps falling down, our 6 year old, Zeb enlightened us with his reasoning for the zipper falling....

" Maybe your balls are too big?" Zeb said.

I gasp at first, just because I didn't expect that, but I just had to laugh when Reece began to smile...

as if to believe that could be the reason... I wasn't about to hurt his fragile ego.

I guess you can just file that in the KIDS SAY THE DARNEST THINGS department...

Still learnin'

They came!! My new running shoes came... I am so excited!! My Brooks Axiom 3's.

I ran 5 miles in the old ones on Thursday, it was ok, but I am REALLY lookin' forward to try out the new ones soon. I have to run 7 miles tomorrow, so hopefully I can break them in. I am going to have my old ones with me so I can switch off if I need to... I thought it was suppose to be only 3 miles but then I rechecked the calendar, and *gulp*, I was wrong...

The 5 miles went really well. I was glad to see my partner K, stickin' it out and doing the full five miles with me. We ran one mile on the dreadmill and then 11 laps on the track (which is one mile) then back to the dreadmill til we had our five miles in. It actually went really fast. Considering 2 months ago she couldn't even RUN 10 minutes!! She is doing AWESOME.

She even kept running as I pushed the buttons on her treadmill increasing the speed. She was so doubting herself, but in the end she ROCKED out the higher speed will minimal complaining.
: ) You did GREAT K!

I also learned some things today...

• Our Carbon Monoxide detector goes Crazy when we have a power failure. Freaking out my kids.
• 'Power Failure' can mean not a COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER. You may just have some dim or flickering lights but not enough power to work anything, such as a vacuum or computer.
• Power can be out for almost 2 hours , for no apparent reason.
• Even if you have a battery for a laptop, you do need electricity for wireless internet to work.
• I really need to print out some of my phone numbers that I have on my computer, so when you don't have power and kids want to call some neighbors to see if they have power you have access to their phone number.
• We Energies has a toll free number in the phone book... Thank God for that one... since I automatically pay our bill I never get a paper one, so I was desparately looking to see if I had a printed old bill to find the number.
• I don't have any We Energies bills printed out.
  

Thankfully my power came back on about 2 hours later, but I missed out on a really cool work out that I was going to do today... bummer.
At least I got the Christmas tree taken down and some puzzle time in with the boys.
Zeb is a great puzzler!!

Going The Distance

For my birthday, I got an early gift from my sister... and ipod shuffle.
Yes!! Score!!
I can not tell you how excited I was.
Today the first of many training runs, targeted to prepare for Sarasota in February. And Yes, the shuffle was there. It worked GREAT!

My accomplice, K and I have been training longer than today but now we are working on mileage rather than time. Today was 3 miles. It was the longest I ran since my surgery and it went really well. The first time was only 20 minutes because I had a side ache, but this time the ache wasn't as bad and went away completely. Believe me after the first 20 minutes I was doing great. Not fast as before but I felt great!

I love that I have someone to train with. K has been doing really well. She sticks it out, with minimal walk breaks.

It is so hard training by yourself. Time DRAGS. My sister does really well by herself, but she does more outdoor training. Even in this yucky Wisconsin weather. I don't like cold. I do miss running on my country roads by my house.

It is now 6 weeks away. Hmm. I wonder if I should start tanning? You don't want a sunburn right?

6 weeks.

No turning back. No reason not to complete this.
Goin' the Distance.

Fortune cookie came true!!

First I just want to thank everyone for those great comments and wishes... I really appreciated all of your thoughts and prayers... I have such great friends and family.

I can't tell you how greatful I am. My Christmas came early.
I just came from my doctors appt where he told me my report came back 'normal'. Yay!!

And I am finally losing some of those extra lbs I got stuck with after the Half marathon in September. Double Yay!!

Have a great Holiday Everyone!!
Now time for a celebratory chips and french onion dip....
: )

I saw 81 out of 239 Movies.

So...SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own account, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
Total: 6

(X) The Princess Bride
( ) Anchorman
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 11

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 13

(X) Harry Potter 1
( ) Harry Potter 2
( ) Harry Potter 3
( ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
() Little Black Book
() The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 16

(X) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(x) The Grinch
(X) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(x) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 22

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
(x) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far: 29

( ) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
(x) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 33

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 37

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
( ) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 43

(x) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremacy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( )Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 50

(x) Independence Day
(x) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(X) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far:57

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
(x) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 62

( ) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
(x) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
Total so far: 70

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
(x) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far:73

( ) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
( ) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 75

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History
( ) Three
Total so Far: 76

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 78

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
( ) Hook
( ) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 78

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 78

( ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
( ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
( ) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
( ) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
( ) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 78 / Yes, I have never seen a Star Wars Movie, that I can recall. My kids love the movies, but I just don't quite get it.

(X) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal

Total so far: 81

Then you Put your total in the subject line of the blog and re post it.

Ovary Removed.

Yesterday I enjoyed the 'cleansing kit' that the Dr wanted me prep with.
Ok, Not so much.

My Mom thankfully took the kids overnight, since we were supposed to be getting some icy roads this am and we both didn't want her driving all the way to our house with bad roads if she didn't have to.

I tried to get to bed early, but I kept tossing and turning. I didn't sleep really well at all. I had to be at the Hospital at 6 am. I was afraid I was going to not hear the alarm. We had to stop by the gas station and we were worried about the roads. The temp this am was in the single digits. One bank's sign said 2 degrees. But the roads were great.

I got checked in and prepped for surgery. My anesthesiologist was a fellow Tri Club member, but I wasn't about to say anything to him about who I was. I don't remember ever meeting him personally. I think he talked at one of our meetings, but that was a long time ago.

I was wheeled into a cold Operating Room, switched beds and they wasted NO TIME knocking me out. He said he put some anti-nausea med in my IV, and that was pretty much all I remember till I woke up in Recovery.

I think I was a bit dehydrated, from yesterday, but I was a bit nauseous. Phospho-soda prep is disgusting! Even poor Zeb felt so bad for me he had a hard time eating his lunch.

After recovery, they tried giving me hot cocoa and toast, but I had to switch to water, my throat just didn't want solids yet. I had a hard time trying to swallow the toast and the cocoa was too sweet.

I kept trying to sleep, but my pulse kept dipping below 40, which triggers an alarm on the monitor. The nurse told me to keep wiggling my toes when that happened, but it wasn't helping.

I was so tired, that I couldn't ask the doctor why I have 4 holes instead of one. Three by my hips, evenly spaced and one under my belly button. He did say everything went really well and we will get results from pathology within a week. I am glad he took the ovary.

I spent most of the day with some form of nausea. I woke up about 6pm and was insanely hungry, but that was a mistake. About an hour later more nausea again, finally had to visit the throne. I feel a bit better now.

My mom was a saint and came over with supper for the boys and got everything ready for them when they got home. Zeb walked in the door saying "Oh, What's that smell? It smells good in here!"
Duner was trying to rest for work tonight so she ran and got me my pain medication. Thanks Mom!
Now I have a bit of heart burn, but not nauseous. I am supposed to stop by Zeb's school for a special 'cuddle up to read' activity. I had forgotten I signed up for that before this surgery came up.
I hate to disappoint Zeb, but we will have to see. Walking is a bit slow right now. I feel bad for missing this weeks running (sorry Katie) , but I may be able to join again soon! I still have a half marathon I am going to do.

Just Me Being Real

Ok.
So here is another reason I have not blogged much lately. Bear with me.

I am trying not to let my anxiety get out of control. I have learned I like to sleep to avoid anxiety.

Back in September I had my lovely 'yearly exam' with my Obgyn. I have an AWESOME Doctor. I wish he delivered my first two kids, he never acts like I am 'just a patient'. Always takes his time, no matter how far behind he may be.

Anyway....
I described some symptoms to him, thinking he was just going to reassure me and tell me it was probably just A,B or C... but he ordered some tests just to be sure. I had some labs and an ultrasound. He had also found a small lump, just under my armpit and ordered an ultrasound for that as well as a mammogram.

Nothing was found on the Mammogram or ultrasound for the 'lump', but he still wants me to visit a breast surgeon anyway.
And I will, but first the OTHER ultrasound showed something funny with my left ovary. I had been having pain on my left side and some bloating. He said we needed to follow up in November with a 2nd ultrasound and see from there.

Well... I haven't had much pain except one stabbing pain on Halloween, but otherwise NOTHING. So I almost canceled my follow appointment. We have a $3000 deductible with Duners new insurance and I didn't really want the bill, but I kept forgetting to cancel it early enough so I showed up for it because I was afraid I would get charged if I didn't.

Ok.

So I have the ultrasound and wait to see the Dr immediately after, only thinking of all the stuff I could be doing at home if I didn't have the appt. I was fully expecting him to say... "Well, Looks like it got back to normal", but he didn't.

He said "Do you see the right ovary? See those circles in it? Those are normal. That side looks good. BUT, Do you see all the 'Free Fluid' , Do you see how the left side is dark and had those wavy lines though it? That is not normal. I would like to do a lapraotomy to see and possibly remove your ovary if needed. It could just be benign. But I want make sure."

Blink. Blink.
Ok.
That was NOT go home your fine.... oh and Thanks for the $.

That was We ARE NOT DONE HERE.
*Gulp*

So, my family history is... Grandma Margaret (My Mom's Mom) died from Ovarian Cancer. My Mom had 'precancerous cells' and mastectomy.

Not the best appointment.But because he is SUCH AN AWESOME DOCTOR, he is bumping his patients for me to get this done before the end of the year, because I have to switch to a new OBGYN, thanks to insurance and a $6000 deductible if I stay with him, because he is out of network.

If you have ever checked out the symptoms of ovarian cancer you would guess 80% of people have it.

• Ongoing cramps or pain in your belly.
• Ongoing pain in your pelvis or lower back.
• Abnormal discharge.
• Nausea or loss of appetite, or you cannot eat normally.
• Ongoing bloating or intestinal gas that is not relieved by home treatment measures.
• Bigger belly size or a lump that can be felt in your belly.
• Decreased energy level.
• A change in your bowel habits, such as constipation or diarrhea.
• A change in your bladder habits, such as urinary frequency or urgency.
• Weight loss

Bloating?
Cramping?
Nausea?

I won't go into detail about how many or which ones I have but it is hard to calm yourself down sometimes when you learn that if you have a family history of it your 3x more likely to get it. Another website said Breast and Ovarian Cancers can be related (!!!)?? Great.

Then one website says "Ovarian cancer does not cause many symptoms in its early stages. This is why most cases are not found until the cancer has spread. Most women do have symptoms in the 6 to 12 months before ovarian cancer is found."

Lovely. So until next week Monday I am trying not to research anything more online... trying to keep my focus on the upcoming Half Marathon I have in February that I am training for. I truly do not have time for any type of cancer or complication. Thanks to the Surgery, I will be out of training for one full week, but I hope to be getting back after that.

So please, I will accept any good thoughts, prayers, wishes or whatever you can send my way... I go in early Monday Morning to have the surgery. It is outpatient surgery, so I will be home pretty quickly.

Duner will be with me during the surgery, and my Mom will be sending the kids off to school for that morning for us... so Wish me Luck!

So I have been MIA lately. Not intentionally.
I have not exactly been a slacker.
My middle Child had a birthday shortly after Thanksgiving. He is now 11. We had German Chocolate Cake and went out to eat at Golden Corral. He got one of the many Lego sets that he doesn't know I bought for Christmas for him from one of the Black Friday purchases I got from my shopping expo with my Sis. We hit 7 stores by 8am.

Today we had a nice snowstorm that kept the kiddos home from school for the day. I was glad. I did not want to have to drive the kids to school today. I had stopped at the store and picked up some ingredients to make cookies 'just incase' the snow day happened. So we made Merry Berry Cheese bars, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Gingerbread cookies, Sugar Cookies and Chocolate Mint Cookies. I had Zeb and Reece for the first hour, then later I had Zeb and Brock helping to cut out some sugar cookies. My favorite part of this pic is what Brock's Shirt says, as he is cutting out sugar cookies...

It Says 'Tough Guys Wear Pink'.

Obviously, he NEVER wears that to school.

Mom's Weekend only

My Vacation started 6:30pm on Thursday, when I sent off Duner and the boys to the cabin, Zeb with his double ear infection, with strick orders to STAY INSIDE AND TAKE HIS MEDICINE. I told him he needs to take it when he wakes up and before he goes to bed and once when he eats lunch. He really likes the 'pink stuff' so it should be easy for him to remember. (hopefully)
He was feeling better already, but he has been off school since Wednesday.

At the Brock and Reece's school they have had some kid that wanted off of school, last week Friday a bomb threat was found on a bathroom stall, of course they found nothing, but as a precaution we were able to let the kids stay home on Monday.
We got the e-mail on Sunday, but come Monday I had forgotten about it. The school sent home a letter saying they found the kid that did it and all was clear. After reading the letter aloud to me as I drove Reece home on Tuesday, Reece said to me "Mom, Didn't you care about me?"
ha. ha. Opps. I forgot.

So our basement has been coming along, we got the bathroom tiled this week. We now have a shower and in floor heat in the bathroom. We just need the plumber to come and install the toilet and hook up the sink, um... oh yeah, and a door. he. he.

The tile is not red at all this picture just didn't turn out that well, but this is the tile and shelves in the shower. The tile turned out really well. He did a great job.

We managed to hang up some cabinets in the game area, and do some molding, I love how the hickory cabinets have turned out.
We have the counter, we just have to cut it to fit and put it in.
I really should be painting some closet doors for Brock's Room but I am slackin' today.

I put in some extra hours this week at work, and I am tired. Not really sleepy just lazy, tired.


The girl that I am training with was unable to meet me today for our training. I was maybe 60% bummed, but then I thought about it... hey, I can sit in my new furniture, forgetting laundry, maybe sipping some sweet Door County Cherry Wine (Thanks Konny!) and pop on the fireplace.... Bummed No more! I couldn't wait to get home! I had to dig through Brock's room to find the Boy Scout jack knife, so I could get the cork out of the bottle. See, Boy Scouts saves the day again!

I even had some reading material... (a bike supply magazine I got from my parents).
Ahhh, and to think... only 12 more years til I could possibly be able to leagally kick out the kids to do this more often.

One Busy Week.

Wow. I haven't had time to blog because I have been time deprived.

1. On my way down to visit my sis in Madison last Friday, my Dad believed it was time he had a hospital stay. He is out now, but I am now going to be along on Doctor visits in the future, just as an extra set of the ears and help my parents understand the whole medical system. He will be seeing a Neurologist on Friday. We are not exactly sure what is up yet. Will keep you posted.

2. Went to visit my sis, after a delay (helping with puppy duty and making sure Dad was ok) and had fun 'Best time Ever'(if you ask the kids) at my sisters. Went to Legoland Chicago and IKEA and spent the rest of the time resting at her house. The kids got to play the Wii and Civilization Four. They were very sad to leave. *sigh* I love to torture them.

3. Brock and Reece have decide to join the Ski Club at school. They will be going to Nordic 4 times in the beginning of the new year. Forms galore.

4. Kids are going to be out of School Friday due to 'Hunting with Dad'. A.K.A. I WILL BE ALONE FOR THE WEEKEND!!! YIPEEE!!!!

5. Zeb has a wonderful new friend. Loves to play with him, but doesn't live as close as I would like. I have been driving a lot to get him to and from there.

6. Finished all the molding that we can in the basement. We need to get more but it seems to be 'special'. hmmm.

7. We had to take out some of the drywall we put in the shower so we can have the tile guy come and put up the shower and flooring in the bathroom. And finished the last GFCI outlet we had to do in the bathroom. I won't embarass Duner, but lets just say... Its a good thing I was there.

8. Zeb got a delayed birthday card from one of his grandparents and had money to spend so we had to go toy shopping... guess what he got....9. Reece attended a babysitting clinc at the city hall today. Now he is all certified to be YOUR sitter. He really wanted me to give him a plug. He is super excited to get started with baby sitting. Let me tell ya, he is GREAT with kids. Big and small. He can even talk Zeb into buying Reece a toy with the $ Zeb got from Grandma! (but I didn't let him) Ha. Ha.
Seriously, he is really good with kids. Diapers are a new thing for him though. (fyi) Call today!
: )

10. I am still training for my Sarasota Half in February, K, my partner in the crime is doing GREAT! And now MY SIS IS JOINING ME! Yay! We are welcoming anyone else looking to soak up some sun for 4 days (give or take) in February, to join us!! It is Feb. 15th.

11. I just joined yet another weight loss challenge thing at the clinic and my friends at the Y also can't wait to get started on one. We all put $10 bucks in and we are going to weigh in weekly. Everytime we gain we pay $5 bucks. Winner with the biggest % of body fat lost wins the pot.
I don't know why I torture myself. *sigh*

12. We need tires for both trucks. We are in search of some good deals. Duner wants to buy tires online and I want to NOT. He knows a dealer in the area that will put them on for him, but i am still worried about that. We will see.

And finally, A local furniture store is going out of business & we needed a new couch for out upstairs living room, since we put the old sectional in the basement. We found a loveseat, sofa and two coffee tables (one 'game' one for upstairs and one round one for the basement). The 'game' table has a checker/chess board in it and backgammon board. It has been a big hit so far.

Our kids have quickly turned out 'game' table into a lego station. Go figure.

The end.
Have a wonderful week!

Halloween Party Follow up

This is how we looked for our Halloween Party on Saturday. I wish we had a decent picture but everyone is blurry. The kids just do not hold still long enough.
That would be Duner in the pretty skirt and pink beehive wig. I am in this....The dark cave person like creature. VERY UNIQUE! Thanks K for the costumes!! They worked great~ a big hit!

Tonight I was able to sneak away and run while Zeb was in swim lessons. I ran in the old hood! It was strange. I usually run on long straight country roads. I usually don't have cars, curbs, strollers, dogs or anyone that gets in my way. I don't have stoplights, to take breaks at. Last night Karma was with me, because I didn't have to stop until 3/4 into my run. (even though I wanted to) Running in the city, you have more hils with the sidewalks... run down to the street, and back up to the side walk. It is an older area of the city, so you have to watch out for random parts of sidewalk that are pushed up. I kept reminding myself that it was November and I was in a t-shirt and shorts! In Wisconsin. What is funny is I am going to be FREEZING at the end of the week... weather is supposed to reach only 43 on Saturday and 36 on Sunday or Monday. What a differnce a week makes. Today it is supposed to reach 70! I am going to take advantage of that, because I may be able to sqeeze in a BIKE RIDE!

Halloween Eve

Duner and I are invited to a Halloween Party on Saturday night. We are welcome to wear a costume, in fact, I was at this very same party last year and wore my 'triathalon' gear as my costume and I felt a bit under dressed.

This year Duner will be able to come with me, and I wanted to do something fun. I asked a co-worker of mine about costumes and she brings over a neat ghost, cave man, 60's chick and a nun. Complete with jewelry, accessories and make up!!! Thanks K!

I absolutely LOVE the pink wig. I talked Brock and Reece into modeling for the camera.
I would have no problem being either. In fact, it would be kind of funny to have Duner dress up as the girl!! ha. ha.
Do you think he would go for it?








Wednesday night we carved pumpkins. I had a template I printed for me and Zeb, but Reece came up with his own pumpkin.
He did a AWESOME job! He made it 2 sided. We have a Welcome side that says Night, and a back side with a wizard on it.

He was really proud of himself...




Brock's ADHD was in effect that night so he accidentally did his upside down. But he did his best. He decided to make it in his likeness and added glasses.

Zeb emptied his out and he helped me staple the pattern on, but I pretty much did the rest.


Tommorrow night we will have a Ninja, Brainwashed Child and Arrow Boy out begging for candy.
Happy Halloweenie Everyone!!

Whatcha' ma call it....

Saturday my Mom called to tell me they got a new puppy. A few weeks ago my parents dog had to be put to sleep.

She had told me 'They weren't going to have any dogs for a while'. Apparently, a while is about 2 weeks time.


This is Zeb with the new border collie pup.






Reece fell in love with her. She is a 39 days old.
Apparently, she was a puppy mill product.


We went to Grandmas to check her out last night instead of going out to High Cliff and the first thing Zeb said to me this am was 'Can we go to Grandmas and see the puppy today?'

I told them is they hurry up and got ready for Church, we can make it there before and if they behave, we can stop by after.

I have NEVER seen them get ready so fast!!!







They took the girl out to go potty twice.













She doesn't have a name as of yet. Some suggestions were BROWNIE, MARSHMALLOW, PENELOPE (PENNY), FRISKY, HONEY, SUGAR. The lady at the puppy mill called her 'Red'.

She has one blue eye and one green eye.
She was a bit unsteady yet, but she is still pretty young yet.

Grandma said she picked her was because she kind of sat away from the rest of the crowd. Almost to say "Let them go first'.

Grandma figured that would mean that she had a good temperament.






She looks a little pissed off in this pic but reallly she is a sweetheart.

And seeing how we just found an AWESOME home for our two dogs, NO WE WILL NOT BE GETTING ONE ANYTIME SOON!

We will just puppy sit once in a while and be good.

Fast Freaky Day

Saturday was an extremely busy day in our house. First thing, bright and early at 7am Zeb and I headed out to the freaky 5k. He was doing the 1/4 mile fun run, and the 5k with me.
Reece was supposed to join us be ended up with Strep on Friday,so he stayed home and slept.
I was looking forward to this because of the costumes that were involved.
This wild couple is only one of the many costumes that were displayed. I work with one of them but I won't tell you which one. I didn't get to stay for the judging, Zeb wanted to play at Brock and Reece's old playground. (A school near the park we were at.)
We saw a irish dancing girls, Oreo Double stuff cookie, M&M's, Witches, a lil' Chicken pushed in a stroller by a bunny, walking with a Cat. Zeb said to me "Mom they are all animals". Yep, he was right.


Zeb just liked to walk through and sometimes stop to 'rest' on our walk. He did really well considering we did run a little bit in the beginning.
















I thought these were a fun costume. It was part of a group of Teachers (I think they also did the half marathon too) that poked fun at the WLUK situation that I blogged about not to long ago that is still not resolved. You can't see it but it says 'NO SERVICE' on top of the walking sticks that they have and they had tv antenna's on there heads.






Here is the Ketchup and Mustard, and a not so 'hot dog'. Ha. Ha. get it?

If you could feel the temp that morning you would think the guy in shorts was in costume. Burrrrrr.














This was my lil' Ninja as he came running in from the 1/4 kids run that he did. He did great!











Then we had a Halloween Party at Zeb's School, we went home and grabbed Reece (he was feeling better and had been on his meds for over 24 hrs) and we made the rounds at Z's school.

At one point a woman asked Reece to show her son that Reece was really just wearing a mask, so her son would stop freaking out. Poor kid. It was funny to see how most kids were amazed at his mask.
Reece actually got sick of the attention, yes- rare I know, and took it off.
The kids got a free meal from Red Robin, culvers, snacks and stickers. So, We decided to go eat at Red Robin for supper. Brock Loved his burger. He said it was almost as good as FUDDRUCKERS. Wow.
We were on our way out to High Cliff after that but Grandma called to say she got a puppy and the boys wanted to see it immediately. Now they are asking to go see it again.... Maybe I will get a picture of it today.

Fortune...

This is what our Movie room looked like 5 months ago.... and after much sweat, cursing and tons of trips to the 'fix it' store....

It is coming along. We still have to finish the flooring (tile and wood floor), install the doors and finish the window in Brocks Room.

Zeb has been after us to get him lunch box since the 2nd day of school. He has desperately wanted to take cold lunch to school. I found this little cutie online and told Zeb it would be here in 7 days. He made a countdown on a sheet of paper and faithfully crossed off the days each day til it came... exactly as I said it would... And I was just guessing! Whew! Lucked out there!!
The first day we sent him to school with it, I put in a buck for milk at lunch and he accidentally threw it out! Hmmm. I guess we have to do drink boxes instead.

Tuesday we had a dental check up and Brock was terrified that he might have a cavity. Especially after what happened last time. Now, our dentist's office is loaded with TV's!! Every room has one. Zeb got to watch Nickelodeon and the older boys watched Casper the Friendly Ghost, while they hygienist worked. I got to watch HGTV.
Last time Reece was smug because he didn't have any cavities while we all did. Now, he got paid back for saying he didn't 'have to brush'. Now he will be getting 2 teeth pulled instead.
Gotta Love Karma.
One the way to the dentist Reece said to me 'Mom, Zeb's education is much more important than mine so you better bring him back to School first.'
Silly kid.

So... What have I been doing lately?

The kids newest 'FAVE' game is Spore. They have been saving their pennies to purchase it ($50 bucks) and are half way there, but they lucked out an found a friend that can't use the game on his computer so he lets Brock and Reece play it here. They have had it all week and are LOVING it.

We are going to have a bathroom in the basement within the next two weeks. We picked out some tile call Mocha, with accents of Hazelnut tile. The guy that is going to do it is a professional that has just began doing this on his own. We heard so many good things about him so we are really looking forward to this.

We also just had the plumber come and fix Duners, um, water problem... remember the Brady Bunch post? Yayy!!! It took him like 5 minutes.

I have been feelin' all like an athlete or somethin', since I just signed up for a Half Marathon in Sarasota for February!! Can you believe it?

A girl I work with was tellin' me during the Fox Cities Marathon that she was going to be doing the Sarasota Grouper Half in February, and she was going to be running it. Wow! I thought. That is AWESOME! We haven't even finished this half yet and she already signed up for another one! So.... Fast forward to this past week... I was looking for some motivation to help me with the newest weight loss challenge I signed up for and asked her if she wouldn't mind if I trained with her. I told her I wasn't going to do the half but I wanted to train with her.

She said SURE! I was happy. I needed the encouragment. I like to know someone is waiting for me. We begin the 'training on October 26th. (Today I was quickly getting McDonalds on my way to work and who is in the drive thru behind me? She was!!!) Too Funny. I had a pretty good weigh in so I allowed my self 4 days of fat and bad eating, followed by 10 days of good, lean eating.

Then Wednesday she said "You should do the Half too!"
Wow. I guess that I never thought about it. REAL Athletes do stuff like that, not me.

Hey. I can be a REAL ATHLETE. Thanks Katie!!

I checked the price of tickets, and the race.... asked if my husband didn't mind me not being around on our golden anniversary (14 years on Valentines Day!) and he said "Go Ahead!"...

So February 12, I leave for Sarasota without my kids... or husband... to RUN! for 13.1 miles!!
in Sunny Florida....ahhhh.

High Cliff Ride

Today I rode my bike out to High Cliff quickly, I got called in to work so I had to squeak it in before Zeb's swim lesson and the impending rain... How can you NOT want to ride out with such great scenery.... If you live in the area... I HIGHLY recommend taking a drive/ ride out there ASAP.

I pass this house a lot on my rides out to High Cliff. I love the bones of it. It has such mystery. I always wonder why it was left to ruin. I bet it used to be a charmer.

This is the top of the hill at High Cliff. Love those Colors!

Yep, I actually stopped on the hill to take this and MANY pics... I know, I need my head tweaked.

This is the area at the bottom of the hill. Not a pretty as the top, but still nice.

It took about an hour to get there from my house, but only 35 minutes to get home... thanks to the wind. My legs are feeling it now. But my mind is thanking me. I had forgotten that I was actually getting exercise. I just got lost in the colors of the season.

Tonight when I asked about the MP3 player that Reece had in his back pack, he said ....

"But then you can't hear the sounds of the wilderness, like 'Get off the road you crazy biker!'. So peaceful."

Always my clown.

Breast Cancer Awareness Run/ Walk

With Thanks to Dez, I am back in another contest for weight loss. This one lasts til December 31st. We have to weigh in every other week, it is nice to have a longer time between weigh ins.
It is also nice to have some races to help motivate my exercise.

Today was the Breast Cancer Awareness Run/ Walk at Greene Isle Park in Green Bay.

It is a 2 mile or 5 mile race. I met some girls from work and we decided to all ride together. My employer gave us all T-shirts for Free to use on that day. So we all had ours on.

It was at a pretty area lots of trails and trees. Lots of people had signs on that said who they were walking/ running for. Over 2500 people took part. It kind of makes you realize just how BIG cancer is. It affects so many people.
Some people had "In memory of..." on there shirts, that made me want to push harder.
I saw lots of "In honor of...", but not a lot of signs saying 'SURVIVOR'.
A few, but not many.
I saw 2.

People die from this everyday, I was so lucky to be able to run it especially on such a nice day!!

There were 5 of us doing this walk/run. One of my co-workers, brought her Daughter that is between Brock and Reece's Age. I'll call her M. She was willing to run with me for parts of the race. On the way to the race her Mom announced to us that she just ran a mile in 9 minutes the other day.
Dang, I thought, Ok she is WAY FASTER than me. Ok Rachel... GOALS HERE... Think BIG.
*sigh*
As we began the race I kept thinking happy thoughts and asking her if M was ready to run yet. for about the first 8 minutes or so we hung together as a group, they kept our path narrow so it was going to be pretty hard to run around people, so I was glad she didn't.

After the first mile we decided to start to run. I think M humored me for the first 50 feet or so and hung by me, but before the next mile I just couldn't keep up to her anymore. She was easily weaving in and out of people. At one time I panicked when I couldn't find her, but she had started to walk. I was so glad...er... able to breathe again. She said her knee had 'popped'. I think she felt bad for me.
: )
I was grateful.

We walked to the next aid station, where they had Water and CHOCOLATE, M was very happy about the chocolate. She even pointed out an unopened chocolate that was abandoned on top of a cone that was marking our way. She was telling me about her cross country practices and meets for most of the rest of our walk, it was interesting. I really want Reece or Brock to do that next year, but we will see. No pressure.

As we finished the race, M picked up the pace just a bit, we finished just over an hour.

Unfortunately, her mom wasn't feeling so well when we finished. I began to think how lucky we were when we did the 13.1 mile walk, no one got sick, all did great.

Not today. Her poor mom spent the rest of the time dizzy and nauseous, I ended up driving her big truck home. I hope she is feeling better. We were all just happy to be no longer pelted by BITING ASIAN BEETLES. They were all over! And they were HUNGRY!!

TV Drama...

Up here in Northeastern WI we have a local cable company called Time Warner. Then there is Direct TV or Dish Network.
Or nothing.

When I was growing up, there was many times my Mom would shut off the cable due to the price increasing too much. There was not much say we had in that situation. Then somehow magically we would get it back again for a while.

Last week Friday Time Warner Failed to 'negotiate' a contract with our FOX Channel know as Channel 11. Meaning they can no longer broadcast their signal. They are the ONLY station in the area that I watched at 9pm to get my fill of nightly news, I do miss that.

Which also means no more PACKER GAMES.... um... without an antenna. Which does kind of suck. Yep in the Heart of PACKER COUNTRY, they can not see the games in HD PERFECTION!!

I usually only watch the last 15 minutes or so, but still. I have been told that Antenna's are hard to come by these days and Time Warner gave away a bunch of them to people so they could get the signal (aka: watch the game).

Currently they are airing some kids movie channel on that station 'until they can resolve the situation'. It is beginning to sound like an election campaign with both sides airing 'commercials explaining their side of the situation.

Channel 11 would like to receive 'fair market value' for the broadcast of the signal.

On one hand I understand Time Warner's stance and appreciate them standing up for us, by not wanting to pass on the bill to us... the consumer. Time Warners statement says that we should not pay for something they can recieve for free. True?

On the other hand IF, the other stations receive payment for broadcasting of signals, then I can understand FOX's view too. Apparently they were able to reach an agreement with Dish and Direct TV.

I wonder if WBAY, or WFRV or NBC26 get payments for the signals like Fox is asking for. I really don't want my bill to go up, but seeing how many Packer Games are left and How FOX is the ONLY station with the nice early newscast... I wonder how many complaints they Negoiators are able to put up with.... Then again, they are maning the phones or customer complaints.

It will be interesting to find out the results. Hope fully soon. I hate conflict.

I need Zen and Harmony, ok, and the Packer Game or early new would be nice again, too.
I just kinda feels like my Mom just cancelled cable again. Only time will tell.

Catch Up Time

There is nothing that reminds you of how long ago school was, then trying to help kids at school figure out how to spell words for the first time. Arrggh. It is so frustrating to work with different kids, they don't know what you are saying or how you say things. Your kids understand you. They know you. It's weird.
Today I helped out at Zeb's classroom then I got to make sure Zeb's picture turned out for picture day. Yay! I will have at least one kid that is not sun burned...


I have not fallen off the face of the earth, but have been busy moving a TON OF FURNITURE. Getting all kinds of dust up my nose, and baking my butt um..... off? (more like baking my but on.. yummmmmm.) Any way, We got carpet in the basement now... (All together now... Yaaayyy!) we still need laminate (for the game area) and tile (bathroom). Currently I have been staining the doors.
Our living room furniture is now in our basement. Brock's Room is in the basement and he loves it. I put molding in Brocks New room and cable tv. He was so excited I hardly saw him the rest of the night! (But if grades begin to slip that is the first to go)
Last week I baked 2 different kinds of banana bread (gone in 24 hrs) and angel food cake that didn't last 12 hours.
This week I made triple chocolate cookies and devils food cake. I am going to make a German Chocolate frosting for that.
Brock and Reece had a contest this week who can cook a better burger. Brock smashed a bug into his , so I wasn't about to try any of his, neither was Reece so no one knows who won.


























We were Treated to a 'performance' by Reece as he practiced his cello tonight. Zeb and Brock helped him out by setting up the chairs and some stuffed animals to occupy those seats.