You Don't See That Every Day

Way back in the middle of summer, The Girl Who Swims, and Runs, mentioned she would not be running on the cross country team this year. Admittedly I was a little sad. I enjoy running, and I enjoy seeing my kids compete in sports. After a short talk together, basically "think about it some more, and "how are you going to stay in shape fro swim?" and "it is your last chance ever" she changed her mind and joined the team once again. This last week was the end of it. Her last high school cross country meet. And it was a fun one. She stayed in the top group most of the way and finished up in 9th place. Which meant she did not qualify for moving up to the State level. I wasn't sure how I would find her at the finish line. With some tears in our eyes, we hugged and she said "I don't have to run anymore!" So now on to her favorite sport: swimming. ((This girl has been a water baby since she was born. Never wanting to get out of the tub, always drawn ...

It has begun. Track season is well under way, and the girls had their first meet this past Thursday. Way back in February, the Girl Who Swims did not want to go out for track. We managed to convince her, with our parental ways, that she should however. And seeing her smile as she ran at the meet confirmed my parenting skill this time at least. She's trying something different this year - not long distance! She is running the hurdles for the first time ever and loving it. I think she likes challenges. She also was in the 4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay! Another new-ish thing for her. The younger daughter is running long distance this season - this time around she did the 1500 and 3000. I think she wants to do the 800 also, but she needs to work on her speed if she is going to try that. I ran that back in the day (and it was my favorite) so it would be fun to see her try it.  

Dear Brother, We missed you here at Thanksgiving holiday. The family, minus 1, got up and out to the park in the morning, ready to run. The weather was amazing. I had been praying for "no rain" on this morning, and with grateful hearts, we were able to run/walk the 5k without a rain drop. It started pouring just as we were heading back to the cars to go home. The girls really impressed me at this run. The youngest ran almost the entire thing. She did the walk/run sequence but more running than walking. The neighbors were there and their son motivated her by just being in front of him .She wanted to pass him and finish before he did. So, I stayed with her the whole 3.1. Once she passed him she would walk a little and as soon as she heard him coming, she would take off running. Our older girls made me proud. The Girl who Swims had caught a cold ((hmm, perhaps her earlier weekend travels contributed to his. more on that later)) but she walked the entire 5k with The Mr. T...

Dear God, Thank you. Thank You for a week of unscheduled time, for time off of school, and time at home. Thank You for the ways You bring us rest when we need it. Thank You for bringing our girl home safely from California. I know, I worried needlessly, but thank You for seeing me through it. Thank You for cell phones so I could hear her voice each night she was gone, and texts at various times. Thank You for the fun she had at her first time at Disneyland. Thank You for the terrific swim team she gets to be a part of and the great coaches that take such care of our kids. Thank You for the safe driving this last week as our girl started swim practices at 530 each morning, which meant being up early and driving to the pool before most people are even awake. Thank You for hearing the prayers for her to be alert and awake each morning when she drives. Thank You for the choir that my other girl gets to be involved with. She loves to sing and is so excited to be 'first soprano...

Dear Friend overseas, I haven't been too good at keeping in touch, and I apologize for that. But you know how summer gets around here! Let me catch you up on the month of August at least. I have to do that before I can post back-to-school pictures. The Cousins came to town. We're naming this summer the Summer of the Cousins. In July as I posted earlier, my kids got to hang out with all their paternal cousins - which hasn't happened ...ever. In August we had cousins come to stay at our place. Which involved the necessary trip to the Oregon coast, since it was in the triple digits at home! What a beautiful day it was too! No wind, warm and just about perfect. It also included the traditional damming-of-a-river. Some of them worked hard at it. We had the traditional fare at Mo's restaurant and ended the day with ice cream. We also spent one of the hot afternoons at a local aquatic center. I got up the courage to go down the big twisty slide, but no way ...

Dear Brother, I'm running again! I was off for over a month. At one point I even told my husband that i thought I didn't want to run anymore, ever. It was that bad. What changed my mind? Well, 1st off, the weather. We had a lot of rain, and it was very easy to not want to run in the cold downpours. Now with the sun, or even the gray but warm days, I feel like getting outside and moving. 2. My schedule. Now that school is out I actually have time to run. 3. My energy. I started taking a multi-vitamin along with my iron supplements and it has made a huge difference in my energy. 4. Accountability. My daughter wants to run a triathlon, so I'm trying to get her started with running, working her into the Couch to 5K kind of program. Also, my aunt mentioned doing something, so having the two of them motivates me. 5. And one more thing .. I want to lose some weight, at least 5 pounds. When the pants start to feel too tight, it's time to get back on the road! So now I h...

Dear Brother , Well this week it happened. My oldest child graduated from high school, my middle child graduated from middle school, and we added a couple of parties, and a funeral in the mix. Our Boy has been gone most of the week attending senior parties, or just impromptu get-togethers with his friends, enjoying every last minute with his buddies that he can. On Thursday we had a little discussion as to what would be worn under the graduation robe .. a compromise was struck mainly because he has no good pants, and he took the tie off once he saw that none of his friends were wearing one. But at least he had a nice button up shirt on, and good jeans. I didn't cry during graduation this time! It was definitely a celebratory evening. Our Boy was one of 6 valedictorians, so instead of having them all give a speech, 2 of them gave the speech, our boy opting out of that. The Girl who Swims is starting the countdown for her graduation in two years... The next evening...

Dear Running Shoes, You greet me each morning, staring up at me with your eyelets, silently begging to be taken for a run. And yet I pass you over for my sandals. I know, I know, it's been a month since I took you out for a run. But hey, don't stick your tongue out at me - at least I've taken you for walks in the evenings. The days have been long, not only with the sun staying up until 9 pm, but with all the activity going on around here. I have a senior graduating from high school, and an 8th grader moving up, and two homeschoolers that still need to finish their books. It looks like we will be doing some math through the summer. I must say, not having summer basketball has been a nice break, although I do miss it. I miss the games, and the visiting with our sports 'family'. But I don't miss the time it took up. And I know there will be more in the future. But, dear running shoes, you won't be stuck in my closet forever. I promise. The 11-year-old has m...

** Dear readers, I'm trying a new format for my blog. Hopefully it will spur me on to write more often here .** Dear Brother, Last Friday night I made it home by 1 am. I know now that I am no longer a 'spring chicken'; my recovery took all weekend. I was out with The Mr. watching our kids run in the State Track Meet. It was so exciting! On Thursday, the Girl Who Swims, and Runs, ran the 3000 m race at State. She's only a sophomore and she, and her teammate, qualified for State! We were pretty proud and excited at the Districts meet when she came in 2nd behind her teammate - knowing it was the time and place she needed to go on. So anyway, all season the meets have been either held in the rain, or hail, or cold. Until State. It was warm, really warm, and I'm pretty sure my girl was not used to it. She didn't have a great time, but she didn't come in last either! The next day more excitement came our way. We headed back to Eugene ... the only two day...

The high-schoolers had their District Track meet this week - two days (roughly 11 hours) and what excitement and entertainment they brought to the spectators. Out Girl Who Swims and Runs is heading to the State meet next week in the 3000. She came out strong in the beginning, staying at the 2nd for most of the race. Towards the end though there was a girl in 3rd who looked like she really wanted that spot. (Only the top 2 advance to the State meet.) We were screaming, yelling, encouraging her loudly, to pick up the pace because there was a girl right behind her! Ok, it was probably more like 10 feet .. but it was too close for comfort. But our Girl picked it up at the end and took 2nd. As a sophomore, she's heading to State. The Boy also had a good meet. He placed 3rd in his 100m dash and 400m run, which wasn't quite what he wanted. But he also runs both relays and his team took first in both of those - so on to State for them! I'm pretty impressed by all the runners...

Age is just a number. The Mr's number just went up one today. But it doesn't seem to be slowing him down any. About 7+ years ago or so, I had to stop running because I was pregnant. I ran my last 5k for that season, in Sept of 2009. Around that time, the Mr decided to take up running. It wasn't something he did since I had met him in 1992. He was into cycling and mountain climbing back then. As time went by, as kids came along, as work and life got more demanding, cycling and mountain climbing kind of took a back seat. And then running came into his life. So at an age around 40, he ran his first half marathon (after a few 5k's). He hasn't really stopped since then. Around that same time he also took his first swim lessons. Even though water is not his best friend, he keeps at it today. He has completed 2 sprint triathlons, which has taken hours and hours of training. So, I just have to say, I'm pretty proud of this guy - to go from zero to numerous half...