Back Yard Post Race Bonfire Party!

Kirsten:  "Sit still, Tori."

Tori:  "I can't sit still!"

"Look cute, girls!"

Saturday evening Kirsten and her family, and Erik and his family, and Helena's friend, Megan, gathered at our house to celebrate the completion of the half marathon with a hot dog/marshmallow roast!  Everybody had a great time!  I LOVE SUMMER!!!!!

No stress.  No worries about kids' grades and attendance.  Kids can disappear for hours at a time with their friends looking for adventure and fun, or just crash in the basement and play video games all day long!  (Note, Will has a friend who just underwent a brain surgery a few weeks ago.  This friend has to remain inactive for 3 months.  No heavy lifting, no sports.... no swimming!  Nothing that would hinder the healing of his skull or possibly even kill him by dislodging the loose bone fragment!  But, playing video games with his friends is OK, so that's what the boys did today)  Late nights are common, and even the occasional sleep over.  Bonfires are frequent and time slows down...

I LOVE IT!

Utah Valley Half Marathon

Last Saturday I ran in my second half marathon.  It was 6 weeks after the first one and my training during those weeks was mediocre, at best.  I never really got over 8 miles in any training run during that time.  I still hoped for an improved run time, though, because this race course was almost entirely down hill.

The race started at 6 am up in Provo Canyon, above the Sundance turnoff.  It finished at Provo Center Street.  There were well over 2,000 participants in this race alone... not including the 2,000+ in the full marathon that would be filtering down into the pack towards the finish line.  In order to get all of those people up to the starting line (this was a point A to point B style of race), the race organizers provided school buses that shuttled runners only up to the starting line.  Half marathon runners met their shuttle buses at the Provo Towne Mall, while full marathoners met their shuttles at the Provo Marriott.  That was done to prevent anyone from accidentally getting on the wrong bus and ending up at the wrong starting line (the full marathon started up in the town of Wahlberg).  Someone forgot to check and make sure all the bus drivers knew where they were going, though.

I got up at 2:30 in the morning, after going to bed at 10 the night before.  My brother, Erik, arrived at our house at 3, and I woke Bill at 3:15 so he could drive us down to the buses.  The buses were going to be running from 3:30 until 4:30 and the race organizers begged people not to all show up for the last bus.  Erik and I got on a bus around 3:45 and once it was full we headed up the canyon.

We passed the bonfire staging area for the half marathon.  I figured that the buses must have a specific turn around spot farther up, right?  Um....

We were at the turn off to Wahlsberg when Erik finally shouted out "hey!  This is a half marathon bus, not the full marathon!"

The bus driver looked genuinely surprised!  When others assured her that, yes, everyone on this bus was, in fact, running the half marathon, she quickly turned the bus around and headed back to the half marathon staging area.

I thought for sure she was just joshing with us and that that was the designated turn around spot since there was a cop car in the middle of the road there with his lights flashing.  But, no!  When we got to the correct staging area I saw bus after bus turning around right at that spot, where there was another flashing cop car just for us.  So, yeah.  We got the ditzy driver!  Go figure.

Still, all's well that ends well, right?  We still made it with lots of time to stand around and get all smoky and toasty by the bonfires!

 Erik and me with the bonfire to our backs.  

About half an hour before the race I stuffed my sweat jacket into my 'drop bag' and zip tied it shut with my name and bib number, then chucked it into a rental van the organizers brought up for that purpose.  They shuttled all the thousands of drop bags to the finish line where we picked up our stuff after the race.

 It was fun chatting with all the other racers up there!  Everyone was so friendly and happy!

Erik looking grumpy.  He wasn't thrilled about being up that early and wasn't even sure he wanted to do the race.  I felt the same way with my first race 6 weeks ago.  I could tell he was nervous, but I didn't say anything because he wouldn't have wanted me to.  I knew he'd do great, and he really did!  He finished nearly 30 minutes before I did with an excellent time of 2 hours, 6 minutes!

This is a shot I got off the internet of the race starting line...

Helena took this shot of me approaching the finish line.  

I won't say that this race was a piece of cake.  It was still hard to run that far!  Thirteen miles is a long way for me.  However, I really enjoyed it and it seemed to go so much faster this time!  I reached 6 miles before I even realized it!  That was when I sent Bill my first text letting him know my location on the course.  I sent updates every two miles after that until the 10 mile mark, then every mile for the 11th and 12th mile.

I have to say that running in the canyon was phenomenal!!!  It was SO BEAUTIFUL in the morning light.  There were lots of waterfalls, cliffs, and the river to look at!  I wanted to take pictures, but do you know how hard it is to take a picture while running?  Yeah.  Impossible.  I did have to be careful not to run on the rumble strip, because I saw a woman trip on it and fall!  Poor thing!

You see, we were running right on the canyon highway.  The race organizers had orange construction cones closing off one of the two lanes coming down the canyon.  We were all supposed to stay in the running lane and out of the car traffic lane, since the canyon was not closed to vehicles during the race.  At the beginning of the race, though, there were simply too many people packed too closely together.  There were lots of people running out in the car lane!  Scary!  I know!  Not me.  I stayed over on the shoulder, dodging those stupid rumble strips.  By mile three people were pretty well spaced out, though, so everyone could fit in the race lane by then.



Throughout the course there were port-a-johns and aid/water stations.  Lots of runners stopped for bathroom breaks.  I also saw several who couldn't make it to the toilets and dodged off into the woods for emergency pit stops.  I have heard that some runners can suffer from diarrhea during a race.  I am thankful that I am not one of them!

We ran through the tunnel just below the Sundance turn off.  Lots of people cheered, hooted, and hollered while going through.  When we got out of the canyon and started approaching Provo, we started to see spectators!  That was a new one for me!  The Thanksgiving Point race only had spectators at the finish.  For this race, there were people all along the city portion of the route!  I have to tell you, if there are people watching you pass by in the race... you try harder!  You just cannot slow down and walk in front of people holding up signs that say "If it was easy, everyone would do it!", "Got toenails?" (that one made me smile, since my toenails are completely destroyed by these races), "We believe in you!", and so many other encouraging things!

The aid stations were really well spaced and well stocked!  I never felt thirsty, and I was glad for an occasional banana, orange, energy gel, or otter pop.  Toward the end I started taking two waters at each aid station... one to drink and another to rinse my face and neck to keep cool.  It was after 8 by then and starting to warm up.  There were also two misters set up toward the end of the race for runners to pass through.  I LOVED THAT!

At some point, I passed my brother-in-law, Paul.  He planned to walk the entire race, but couldn't resist starting at the front of the pack and running the first bit.  I had started back with the 2:20 pacer and kept my training pace up for the entire race, so I didn't come across him until several miles into it.  We chatted for a bit, then I went back to my pace and left him to his pace.

I was just two miles from the finish when a cop on a motorcycle came up behind us with lights and siren.  He was clearing the way for the FIRST FULL MARATHON runner so that he wouldn't have to weave through half marathoners to reach the finish line.  Yes, you heard me right!  The first three 26.2 runners passed me and beat my time!  I hear that the winner's time was 2:18!  Oi!

 My official time for this race was 2:33:13.  I beat my old time by 10 MINUTES!  I was hoping for 2:30, but I got close!

When I was approaching the finish line, I saw TONS of people watching and could hear an announcers voice, but I couldn't decipher what he was saying, because I still had my music playing in my headphones as I ran.  I know better now!  I should have taken off my headphones for the finish line because the voice was announcing MY NAME as I approached the finish line!

HOW COOL IS THAT?!?

I wish I had heard him!

Bill saw me and started clanging his cow bells to draw my attention.  Then he ran along side the finishers chute with me as I finished, clanging them the whole way!  That was so awesome!!!  I saw Helena and Will taking pictures of me on their cell phones and I waved to them, but i didn't see Erik and Deanna.  I found out afterward that they were on the opposite side of the chute waving and I missed them.  Rats!  Erik came over and congratulated me, though, before heading out.

After cooling down, having some of the post race refreshments provided by the organizers (really well done!), and having some pain killer stuff rubbed onto my legs, we decided to go get breakfast (which felt like lunch to me) before returning to watch Paul cross the finish line.  I should mention again that Erik and Deanna waited and watched me cross the finish line, which was so awesome!  I wish we had gotten a group shot at the finish.  That would have been EPIC!

We got back to the finish line and waited.  And waited.  And WAITED.

In vain, it turns out.  He had crossed the finish line while we were eating and left immediately for a hot tub at the gym, so we missed our chance to cheer him.  Drat!

Now it is two days later and I am only slightly sore.  Yesterday I was very sore, of course.  But now I feel like I'll be able to slip carefully back into some low impact workouts tomorrow!

What is next, you ask?

Oh, yeah!!!  Vegas for Bill's birthday!

It'll be a blast!

My Second race is TOMORROW!

I am getting nervous again!

I went down to Provo this afternoon and picked up my race packet and checked out all the booths of cool runner stuff.  I ended up buying a headband, a 13.1 sticker for my car, and a cool new exercise outfit!  In my packet I got a race shirt, a number bib, a racers guide and various samples and coupons.  This time the timing chip is a disposable one attached to the back of my numbered bib.  I am number 2954 for this event.  I overheard a volunteer say that there are over 5,000 people signed up for the three races in this event!  HOLY COW that is a lot of people!!!  There is a marathon that starts up in Wahlsburg before linking into my race, the half marathon, just above the Sundance turn off in the canyon.  There is also a 5K happening down near the end of the other two races.  As far as I can figure, the marathon and the half marathon are starting at the same time, so I will probably be crossing the finish line with some of the faster marathoners.

The plan is to go to the Provo Towne Mall at a screamingly early hour (between 3:30 and 4:30 am) to catch one of the shuttle buses taking half marathoners up to the starting line.  Full marathon runners are meeting at the same time at the Provo Marriott.  Only racers will be allowed on the buses, so I won't have anyone there to cheer me at the starting line.  That's ok, though, because both Erik and Paul are doing this race, so at least I'll have someone to talk to!  However, we will NOT be running together.  Erik is a faster runner than I am and will be sure to finish before me.  Paul says he's walking it, so I don't intend to wait for him.  Besides, I hate talking while I am running!

I have everything all laid out and ready to go!  I am excited!

My new outfit...  I will be racing in this, but I will have an additional layer on because I get chaffed so easily on my underarms.  The top is racer backed and tight enough to go without a sports bra.  You can tell I still have a room to improve my physique!  I have a whole summer workout plan in place just as soon as this race is over!

This is the top layer for my running outfit.  I am not sure, though, because I don't want to get too hot running in black.  I expect to be at the finish line sometime between 8:30 and 9:00 am, though, so I don't imagine I'll get too hot, right?

The actual race shirt.  I'm not digging the gray, but otherwise I think it is a cool shirt!

My number!!!  Wish me luck!

The Beginning of Summer

I have all sorts of ambitions for summer.  I plan to get up at 7:00 every day.  I plan to hit the gym by 8:00 and be done with my workouts and shower by 10:00.  I plan to spend mid-day in some sort of house improvement type of work.  And I plan to spend my afternoons lounging poolside.  Today was the first day I could have put those plans into action.

How'd I do?

I woke up at 7:00.  I got up long enough to make sure that Helena was up and moving.  She has a summer school class that starts at 7:50, you see, so she has to be out the door at 7:30.  Once I knew she was up... I went back to bed until 8:00.  I ended up waiting until she got home from her class before I hit the gym.  I didn't want to be still at the gym when she got home because I wanted to hear how the first day was.  Also, I thought that maybe she'd want to come with me.  Turns out that her first day was just great, and, no, she did not want to go with me.  Harumph.

So, I didn't make it to the gym until after 11:00.  My workout was cut short by a text from Helena saying that she couldn't find her Social Security card.  She intended to go job hunting and couldn't find it.  I came home a searched for it, too, without success.  Grrr!  It has to be around here somewhere!!  I really hope we find it soon, because getting a new one issued is just not a nightmare I want to contemplate.  As a side note, we can't find her passport, either. 

Anyways, after spending several hours hunting to no avail, I had lunch and finally got busy with Steel Days stuff.  The art show is in less than a month and I still hadn't updated the e-mail contact info so I can e-mail out the 'call for entries'.  It took several hours of typing (and all the battery on my laptop) to get my contacts updated.  It went from 175 to over 250 contacts.  Tomorrow I'll work on sending out the 'call for entries'.  I meant to go to the store today to pick up some essentials (paper towels, toilet paper, and treats for Will's high adventure camp), then to the hospital to drop off some paperwork, but that never happened.  The paperwork is for a surgery Helena is going to have done next month to try to fix some sinus problems she has had her whole life.

And what did the kids do? 

Will spent the morning packing.  He is leaving tomorrow morning for a week of scouting high adventure in Moab.  He spent the afternoon out with the scouts and leaders shopping for the food for the trip.  He is very excited for this week and I hope he has a fabulous time!!!

When Helena got home from school, she spent the rest of the morning doing chores and the afternoon watching TV.  She wanted to go shopping with me, but I never found the time.  She wanted me to go to the pool with her, but, again, the time thing.  Besides, a storm rolled in this afternoon, shutting down the pool for a while.  So her afternoon was a let down.  Sorry sweetie.  Hopefully tomorrow with be better!  Her seminary teacher called today.  He said some really complimentary things about her and told me about summer seminary every Tuesday morning.  Helena plans to go tomorrow right after her summer school class.

Well, it wasn't how I pictured my first day of summer, but it wasn't that bad of a day after all.  I feel like I got lots done and I hope to get even more done tomorrow!

End of the School Year

Here we are at the beginning of summer vacation!  I always feel a bit weird about the transition from working mom to unemployed stay-at-home mom.  Don't get me wrong!  I am celebrating the fact that for 2 1/2 months the only schedule I will keep is the one of my own making.  And I have lots of lists of things that should get done during this time.  And I don't plan to sleep in and be lazy.

Still, that last day of school is always ... just weird.  It is like I have two different lives and the moment they intersect is a moment of fission.  It is a jittery, antsy feeling.  It only lasts a day or two, then I settle down into my new life just fine.

The last week of school is always hard on everyone.  Not academically, of course!  Good grief!  There are no academics on the last week of school.  In fact, the jr. high and high school pretty much told the students not to bother coming on the last day.  Not officially, of course.  But that was the message everyone I talked to was getting loud and clear from both schools.  It is hard because no one is really there mentally.  The kids at school are hyper and hard to manage.  Good students get rowdy.  The students who are generally misbehaved get nasty, on occasion.  The kids at home won't go to bed on time, don't get up on time, and just would rather stay home.

My school held our dance festival on that last day.  The weather was just beautiful and the dances were cute!  The dance festival was originally supposed to happen on the Thursday of the week prior, but our weather this spring has been shockingly cold and wet, so it was moved in the hopes that June weather would be more gentle.  It worked!

I wasn't in charge of anything for the dance festival, so I just stood near the sound equipment tent and delivered late students to their classes out on the field.

I have a funny end-of-year story for you.

Friday was the last day of school.  Wednesday, neither of my kids were predisposed to go to school.  No one wanted to wake up or get moving.  It took a lot of nagging to get first Helena out the door (after her school had actually already started).  It took about the same amount to get Will out the door, too.  As he and I were loading up in the car (I drop him off on my way to work and he was making me late) 5 minutes AFTER his school had started,  I glance out to the street in time to see MY EXPEDITION go driving past the house!  Helena.

Hm.

I called her.  No answer.  So, I detoured on my way to Will's school just to check a theory that she was driving to a friend's house.  Nope.  After I dropped off Will, I called her again.  This time she answered and meekly listened to me chew her out and assured me that she was on her way back to school.

Essentially, she decided it was just too nice outside to waste her day in a classroom, and she wanted to go home and lay out in the sun.  She waited until she THOUGHT I'd be gone, and tried to drive home.  But, of course, Will made me late leaving and she got busted.

Oops.

I was really infuriated that morning... about until lunch time.  That's when I decided to tell the story to my friends and co-workers, who all had a great laugh over it.

I am not thrilled that my daughter was trying to be sneaky and dishonest.  Far from it.  We had a talk about personal integrity that night.  But, it is kinda funny, in a sitcom kind of way.

Anyways.  Will didn't go to school on Thursday, because it was 9th grade Lagoon day (local amusement park) and he and his best friend didn't want to go to Lagoon.  I know!  Weird, right?!  But who am I to force my kid to go to an amusement park and shell out the money when he doesn't want to?  So, the two boys just spent the day together doing other stuff.  Neither of my kids went to school on Friday and I was home by 1:00.

And so, summer begins.

Memorial Day Weekend

Helena and her friend, Megan, went to Kirsten's last weekend for a sleepover, rodeo kind of Memorial Day weekend.  Will, Bill, and I stayed home and had our own BBQ.  We had a bonfire and Bill grilled lots of yummy food!  It was cool out, our weather just hasn't wanted to warm up this year.  There is still lots of snow up in the mountains.  So much, in fact, that Bill's race in two weeks has had to have a new route created because the original route is snow bound!

That last photo is of Will huddled in a blanket playing games on his iPod.  He wasn't that into the whole sit around a bonfire in the cold idea and went in as soon as courtesy to his parents allowed.

That weekend Bill also took me for a drive to see how swollen the local rivers are.  One night a week or two ago, Bill's phone rang just as he was drifting off to sleep at about 10:30.  It was an emergency call to go up the canyon and save someone's house from being flooded by the river!  He was out all night and didn't get home until four in the morning, but he saved the house!  He took his backhoe and created a diversion trench, which he showed me when he took me up there later on.

A few years ago, when the spring rains were bad, one of the streets in Pleasant Grove turned into a river of overflow water.  At the time, the city put up barricades to slow the water in its onward rush, to try to mitigate the damage being done.  They learned from that, apparently, because they installed a giant pipe in the middle of that same road to accommodate the flooding, and they intend to bury the pipe under that road once the spring thaw is over.  Bill drove me to see that, as well, so here are the photos of where that pipe feeds into the canal above the city.

The first picture doesn't look all that impressive until you realize the size of the pipe when looking at the second picture.  The water was roaring out of that pipe!  In the second picture, you can also see the pipe snaking up the center of the road.  Oh.  And by the way, it was raining as I took these pictures.  It has really been the wettest spring I can ever remember here!  We have moss growing on the patio for goodness sake!

Unexpected Weekend plans

I got home from school on Friday to some bad news.

Bill came home from work early in order to pack up and head out on a father/son camp out with Will.  He pulled his favorite sleeping bag out of the garage and decided to wash it prior to using it (to get rid of the 'stored in the garage since last summer' smell).  The washer filled with water and detergent... then did nothing else.

So, by the time I got home, Bill was quite stressed out because, while no one wants a broken washing machine, we have no money to replace it.  Not to mention the fact that the lawn mower was also not working.  Oh, and I had an entire week of dirty laundry to do.

"Why don't you repair the one you have", you ask?  Because it is an old second had washer we bought from someone up in Salt Lake off of KSL classifieds.  There comes a point when you realize that it would be more cost effective to buy new and have something reliable, rather than constantly fixing something old and having the down time during repairs.

We needed to buy new.  We decided to take the plunge and buy a set, since our dryer (also KSL-esque) doesn't have much life left in it, either.  We looked for a store that offered in house financing with a 0% interest period, so we could pay them off before accruing interest (and because we haven't had a credit card or any consumer credit debt for over two years, now).  I won't give you the blow-by-blow.  I'll just say that we got them from store 'y' at the cheaper price that store 'x' was offering, because store 'y' had a 12 month interest free period instead of only 6 mo. and was willing to price match in order to get our business.  We hope to have them paid off in 6 months, but it is good to have the extra cushion of time.  They were made by Maytag, and the model name is Maxima.

So, on Wednesday I will have a beautiful new washer and dryer and I AM VERY EXCITED!  I have never had brand new laundry appliances before.  They have always been hand me down or second hand in the past.  Here is what they look like... except we ordered them in white.  The red would clash with my laundry room decor.

Haircuts

Yesterday Will and I went to Kristy for haircuts.  Normally, I cut Will's hair with the clippers.  At least, that is on the rare occasion when he lets me.  His has grown his hair out for a long time now until he looks like a shag.  I feel bad for him, because he wants his hair long, but he doesn't have the right kind of hair for that.  It just doesn't look good on him.

Anyways, I took him to Kristy, because she can actually cut and STYLE hair, whereas I just buzz it.

I should have just saved my money.  He hates his haircut.  He says it is too short and will stick up in the back.

The bottom line problem is that he doesn't actually DO his hair in the mornings, so the rooster tail inevitably pokes up and drives him crazy.  All he really needs to do is dunk his head in the sink in the morning and run some hair product through it with his fingers.  That's it.  But, apparently, even that is just too much hassle for him.  Heavy sigh.

The truth, though, is that he looks incredible with his hair freshly cut and styled!  He looks older, too.  I know I am biased since I am his mother, but I really think he looks good enough to be a model!

Clay Projects are going to be the Death of Me!

Urgh!!!  I am fed up to my eyeballs with clay projects!!!

The fifth grade has built their bowls and I am running my FIFTH bisque fire of them.  They are glazing this week and I just hope that I don't run out of glaze before they finish!  That would just be my luck.

I have had to give the 'keep it in perspective' speech to nearly every fifth grade class.  You see, a small percentage of breakage is pretty normal on a student clay project.  Some kids just don't follow instructions well enough and their bowls fall apart in the drying stage.  Others might break in the transfer to the kiln because the kids made them too thin or fragile.  Either way, it is devastating for the kid whose bowl broke.  I do get some tears.  I even occasionally get a parent calling me asking me to let their kid make a new one (grrrr!  Let your child experience life's disappointments!  Sheesh!) even though that would mean firing a practically empty kiln just for one child who didn't follow instructions in the first place.

What is the 'keep it in perspective' speech, you ask?  Here is a sum-up...

"I know that you are very excited about the clay bowls, and you will certainly feel really disappointed and sad if yours is one of the broken ones.  But I want to remind you that it will not change the course of your life if your fifth grade clay project breaks.  It won't change the course of human history, either.  So, it is really not a tragedy and doesn't deserve tears.  The tsunami in Japan WAS a tragedy, so were the tornadoes in Alabama!  Those are life changing historical events that deserve tears!  If your pet dies, that is a life changing event for you, and that deserved tears, too.  But, your fifth grade bowl?  C'mon!  No tears needed!"

After hearing that, the kids are much better about it and can mostly handle the disappointment of breakage.

The sixth grade is starting their clay projects today and I am really stressed about the lack of time left in the school year to complete them!  If only the kiln was bigger and I could fit more projects into it at once!  Gah!   I really hope I can get them all finished before the school year ends!  (13 school days left, you know)

What really gets me are the kids who come up to me and tell me; "I'll be gone for one of the clay building days, so...."  and then wait for me to tell them that it will be OK an I'll help them make up the lost day.  Harumph!!!  I am so sick of giving up my lunch for kids whose parents decide to pull them out for who knows what reason!  Sometimes it is for a wedding or funeral (when that is the case I try to be as helpful as I can),  but other times it is to go on a family mini-vacay, or to BABYSIT preschool siblings while mom and dad go off to do something else.  I AM NOT KIDDING!  Unbelievable!

We are so tight against the end of the year, I have simply told all and sundry that, NO, I cannot help anyone who will be absent and if they miss it, I am sorry, but that is just too bad.  I cannot slow down the clock and we have a hard deadline.  The End.

First Taste of Summer

Yesterday we had a BBQ in the back yard to celebrate the grass.  Kirsten and Paul came with their girls, and Erik and Deanna came with their boys.  Helena's best friend, Megan, joined us, and eventually Helena's friend, Daniel, stopped by as well.

It was so fun to watch Tori (2) running around the yard playing 'tag' with the bigger kids.  She just wanted to be 'it' all the time, so she giggled happily whenever anyone tagged her back.  Little Luke (1) getting stranded on his blanket in the middle of the grass because he refused to crawl out on it.  Watching Kris (11) and Dallin (9) trying to climb the cherry tree up to the tree-house.  We left off the first 'ladder rung' on purpose to discourage casual and 'too-young' climbers from adventures that may be too dangerous or out of their ability range... so kids really have to have some muscles and determination to get past that hurdle.  Neither of them made it, this time.  Baby Meg (4 or 5 months) being passed around for lots of kisses and cuddles.

The weather was fabulous, other than a bit of wind.  It was sunny and warm; almost too warm!  Upbeat music played in the background...oh, it felt SO GOOD!!!  Like a taste of summertime!

We had everything you could think of that was yummy to eat and we all ate too much of it.  Every time you thought you were simply done, something else would come out of the kitchen and tempt everyone.  For instance, not long after dinner, Erik brought out the desserts they brought with them (really delicious!), then Bill pulled out the ice cream and root beer for floats.  At about that time, Will was starting up the fire so it could be ready for s'mores after the root beer floats had settled in our stomachs.

The conversation was great, the weather was fabulous, and I had a really WONDERFUL time!  It makes me excited for summer vacation, which is only a few short weeks away!!!  It is time to go buy the 'summer china' and I am getting really happy!

Ahhhh!!!!!   Bring it on!!!

Grass at last!

At least, in the back yard.

We were able to buy enough sod to cover the back yard (the part we wanted to be grass, that is) and it arrived today.  We spent a couple of hours laying this evening and it looks ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!  I finally feel like I'll be able to use my back yard again!  This is so exciting to me!  I even bought some party lights to string out back this summer for back yard BBQ parties.

I haven't had a usable back yard since 2008.

The front yard still looks ghetto, but it feels REALLY good to have some grass in the back!

Here are some before and after photos...

 

Pictures from last Saturday

Here a some of the pictures that Helena took last Saturday, both at the half marathon and in SLC.

As I approach the finish line...

It was really wonderful to have everyone there cheering me and telling me how proud they were of me!

You know, I lost 10 pounds while training for the first half marathon.  I hope to loose another 10 training for the next one!