Feelin' the love.

Was I every spoiled yesterday!!
Some of my birthday swag...

• a homemade necklace/bracelet from Kenna with this note: "Dear Mom, Happy birthday! You ARE NOT old until you reach 80!!! But, if you still think you're old, here's something to at least MAKE you look young. I love YOU!!! Love, Kenna"
  (I typed it just like she wrote it. How can an 8-year-old get all those commas right? She's so dang cute.)
• babysitting from Todd today so I could run an errand. Awesome!
• running skirt and two cute shirts (from ME) last night before dinner with my handsome husband.
• fruit pizza from a fellow redhead friend. I wish I had taken a picture but it was gone in a flash. It was as beautiful as it was delicious.
• a great magnet board with my "Words to Live By--Begin, Persevere, Excel" on it and gift cards to my favorite running store and to SONIC! Their Diet Dr. Pepper is the BEST. All this and lunch with my friends in the RS presidency.
  
• a super great water bottle, 12-pack of DDP, cupcakes, and babysitting from a cherished neighbor.
  
• carmel popcorn (FAVE!) and pedicure wares from a sweet friend.
• self-heating socks and foot lotion from my sis-in-law.
• a giant candybar from a friend.
• money from my in-laws. They are thousands of miles away in Peru and still managed to make me happy I'm partly theirs :) I love them.
  
• delicious, 500 calories each!, squares and 32oz of pure energy/joy from my running partner.
• a touring (read OLD LADY) bike from Brent! Just what I asked for!
• many, many emails, phone calls, and facebook wall posts from friends and family.

I feel overwhelmed by the love I felt yesterday and everyday from so many people dear to me. Honestly, how can you feel bad about getting old when each year of your life brings more and more kind, spectacular people with it? That truly is the blessing of "growing up". Thank you again for sharing yourselves with me.

39 from this day forward

Wish me a happy birthday and make it good because this is the
LAST one that I will ever acknowledge.

(Note to Brent: You are still on the hook for getting me a present every year just make sure the card doesn't mention the reason for said gift.)

39 years old? WHEN did that happen?
38 years ago I was already sharing the spotlight with a little sister. Stephy and I are only 11 months apart. She was a great 1st birthday present.
33 years ago I was finishing up Kindergarten. Because I was so shy and nervous about school, my mom let me skip a lot and stayed at the school several of the days that I went. Pretty sweet mom. Funny that I deal with tons of these situations as a School Psych. now.
26 years ago I turned 13. I pray every day that my teenagers will not be as insecure and emotional as I was. My parents deserve a medal for enduring my mood swings.
21 years ago I was getting ready to graduate from High School. Honors in every subject but one (P.E., of course) was enough for a small scholarship to BYU.
20 years ago I finished my first semester at BYU with roommate friendships still in tact but scholarship gone.
16 years ago I completed my student teaching in Home Economics as MRS. Zimmerman and graduated from BYU.
13 years ago I contemplated a long, hot summer pregnant with Todd. The air conditioning in our brand new home was faulty and I thought I might die of heat exhaustion. I feel sorry for the customer service individuals who had to deal with my pleadings and threats that summer!
11 years ago I was accepted to graduate school. BYU again. I felt sooooo old compared to the others in my cohort.
9 years ago I crammed for my comprehensive exams unaware that Kenna would arrive the morning I was scheduled to take them! I had the pleasure of taking her to campus at 1-1/2 weeks old to take the two-day long tests. Brent was hired at a company in Bountiful and the commute from Provo was a killer. We began plans to move north.
7 years ago I got brave enough to put my Master's Degree to the test and apply to work part-time as a School Psychologist for Davis School District.
4 years ago I prepared to take another year off from working before Alec was born.
3 years ago I started training for my first marathon. I also interviewed to return to work for Davis School District.
1 year ago I was anxiety-ridden about attending my 20 year High School reunion. It turned out to be way more fun and much less worry than I imagined! Loved it.
TODAY I go to work, enjoy my kids and husband, eat way more calories than I should without feeling as much guilt as I normally would, and thank my Heavenly Father for my 39,000+ blessings. If you're reading this, you're on that long list. I love you, Friends.

It's all about the 0.6.

Today was the last of 5 races in the Striders Winter Racing Circuit--a 5K, 10K, 10 miler, 1/2 marathon, and 30K.

30K is a long way to run...18.6 miles for you metric haters. Other friends who registered this circuit saw no logical reason to do this distance as they are training for the Ogden Half Marathon and didn't need or want the extra 5.5 miles of pounding pain on their bodies. (Smart girls.) My friend Quincey however, is a masochistic soul and drove up bright-and-early to run with me. She just about exiled me from her car when I spilled the forgotten information that the race was really 18.6 miles rather than 18. That 0.6 is a real killer! You see the blessed 18 mile sign and know that you're still too far from that pined-for finish line. What do you do? Well, I felt like curling up and rocking on the side of the road with my thumb in my mouth but I just kept up the slow foot-in-front-of-the-other and finished with a half-hearted sprint to the end cheered by some empathic crazies.

It was a little cold and rainy but not bad enough to interfere. I'm sporting some pretty good blisters on the arches (ouch!) of my feet. My stomach is rebelling. BUT, it was a pleasure to run with Quince and to finish this series for the fourth year.

While the cat's away...

I sincerely apologize to those with weak constitutions for this post. These are pictures of what met me upon return from mailing our taxes. Not too many people see this side to Brent--literally or figuratively--but he is NUTS. I love him for making me laugh so often. Your mother would be so proud, Sweetheart.

Feeling Taxed

I used to do our taxes during the first week in February when we expected a hefty or even small refund. Not any more. This is one of my many grouchy faces made while compiling this year's info. the day it was due. You can't tell but I am pointing to the car clock showing 11:13 p.m. on April 15th. It looks like my trip to Peru just went to the IRS.

Race Report

I have a love-hate relationship with running. A former post extolled why I run and love it but I've been discouraged lately because I want it to be easier. Some mornings my old body acts like it's never donned a pair of running shoes or filled its lungs with fresh air. I want to become faster and stronger (without actually putting in the focused effort to do so) and mostly I want running to magically melt away the excess calories I ingest. Not happening. Winter training doesn't lend itself to heightening my motivation either. It's been a cold, long one.

My childhood friend Quincey began running a while ago and decided that the Salt Lake 1/2 would be her first race. I registered too and we both ran it last Saturday. We had tentatively planned on running it together but weren't able to find each other amidst the crowd of other runners. I missed her great race but running/racing alone turned out to be a re-awakening for my running spirit.

I was a total case of nerves the night before for various reasons all related to my numerous insecurities. (When will THESE go away? Sheesh. Grow up already!) I stayed up too late just worrying, crying a little, and hating myself instead of actually organizing my race day stuff and making a plan. I woke up on time (4.5 hours after I went to bed) and drove down to Salt Lake almost obeying the speed limit ;).

Parking, riding TRAX, using the stinky port-o-potties, and dropping my jacket, gloves, etc. at the start all went very smoothly. I actually crossed the start line about 5 minutes behind the official time. I looooove chip-timed races. No pressure to elbow your way through the crowd or stress that you're holding up some faster runner.

I had a little water and Gatorade to drink at all but one aid station and GU'ed (blech!) at miles 4 and 8. I only walked to avoid choking on my drink and my splits were pretty even except for a slow mile 11 which was quite uphill. I finished in 2:13:40 which is a new Personal Record for a 1/2 marathon for me. I was thrilled. Quince finished in 2:06 with her friend and was amazing! (I'm a proud running "mama"!)

This race was so much fun! It was a very nice course--pretty view at the beginning, slightly downhill for the majority, LOTS of spectators, and this year, perfect weather. Other things during the race that made me smile:

• A guy on his front lawn cooking BACON. Dang that smelled good!
• A quartet of women wearing matching 80's vinyl jackets serenading passing runners.
• Lots of little old ladies sitting in lawn chairs ringing bells for the runners.
• Some over-done-cologne guy that kept getting upwind from me. Yuck. He provided motivation to run a little faster and keep up my pace!
• A man with a prosthetic leg. I smiled and yelled, "Thanks for running today," to him and then choked back a few tears.
• Numerous runners were wearing signs honoring people or organizations they were running in behalf of. This always touches me.
• 3 very young girls. The youngest female finisher was EIGHT! What a great road they have ahead of them...no pun intended.
• A t-shirt: "I know I run like a girl. Try to keep up."
• A percussion band with members of various ages (none of whom looked like they could manage to dress or feed themselves) sounding fantastic. Loved it!
• Another t-shirt: "When we're helping, we're happy." Amen.
  
• Crazy flute lady dancin' around while her homeless-looking drum beater tried to keep up. She was just a little spooky.
• A pile of barf at the top of the long, final hill. Gross and I could sympathize.

End of story, I had a great race and am feelin' the return of my running ZEN. I hope it sticks around for my 18 miler this weekend. Yikes.

Road Trip Report

There was a good, bad, and an ugly side to my road trip with my three little angels. Here's the summary:

Good:

• I ran 6.25 miles with my sister Pamela and 4 of her friends one early morning. She is amazing and is loving her new found hobby. I ran 6.2 miles with my brother David one afternoon. We debated what the wear to mitigate weather (read WIND) conditions and ended up getting sunburned! In Canada. In April. Crazy.
• I sewed and sewed and sewed some of the cutest aprons you have ever seen. I got a couple of patterns and some great fabric after my cute friend Mandy me me a darling apron for Christmas and I paid her gift forward by making one for my mom, 3 (of 4) sisters, and grandma. I've got two in the queue--1 for Stephy and 1 for my brother. (I think I'll leave the ruffle off of his.)
• Todd went to the golfing range with a patient, fun uncle, played chess with my dad, shot the BB gun at gophers, and was Alec's personal three-wheeler chauffer. He only got bored a little and didn't complain...as long as a daily trip to town for slurpies was on our agenda.
• Kenna got her fill of making something out of nothing but craft scraps and ingenuity. She loved it and so did the younger cousins she pulled along. Kenna also enjoyed a tromp through the soggy field with my sister and 2 cousins. They stayed out for a long time just playing.
• Alec played outside most of the time. He enjoyed the dogs, the mud, the three-wheeler, the trampoline, and playing with the cousins. He had a cold much of the time but was generally the life of the party. He has a positive energy that I cannot be away from for very long. A trip behavior favorite was that he called Kenna, Ken-ada most of the time. Crazy kid.
• We went to a talent show to see my niece and nephew perform. Very cute.
• Pamela, Barbara, and I dragged nine kids to a pool in Lethbridge and had a blast swinging on the Tarzan-type vine ball, shooting baskets, and riding on (kids) or dragging around (me) giant foam canoes.
• The kids spend an inordinate amount of time using the computer cam on my dad's new Mac. Who knew that contorting your face in every imaginable way and/or recording yourself being crazy could generate so many giggles.
• No trip to Canada is good without a few rounds of Rook. I was a little rusty--meaning I struggled to drop good enough cheating hints to my partners--but it was very fun.
• We had a great Easter egg hunt and mom cooked a lovely turkey dinner.
• A big owl serenaded us to sleep every night. We got a chance to see him one day in the nest behind the house. Big guy.
• We made several slurpie runs to Cardston. Mmmmm Cream Soda Crush with ice cream....Mmmmmm.

No trip is a bed (or road) of roses. Here's what went wrong:
Bad

• I got pulled over for speeding AGAIN. Really? When will I learn? Happily, the nice (an very cute) officer had mercy on me and my smeared mascara and didn't give me a ticket. The cruise control and I were close friends for the rest of the trip.
• Dogs. My dad has three. They are not my favorite but 2 of my 3 kids love them. Stinky. Stinky.
• The weather was warm but melting snow+gravel roads and dirt=a LOT of mud. Yuck.
• We missed my sister Steph's family.
• The dial-up internet connection was a killer. I checked my email a couple of times but it was a painful wait. When I want to waste time, I want to waste it at high speed, okay?!
  

Ugly

• We got sick. Todd threw up Sunday night and was sick most of Monday. Kenna threw up Tuesday night and was sick Wednesday. I threw up Wednesday night and was sick Thursday. Todd threw up Thursday night AGAIN. Wow. I did a lot of laundry and scrubbing. (Alec didn't get "it". Small miracle!)

I love to go home. It is always worth the (very large) effort when I see my kids with their cousins and my parents. Family is a beautiful thing.

Au revoir.

I'm outta here. The kids and I are headed north. We're going to visit my mom and dad in Canada. They live in the land of dial up so don't expect a post. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Jack Black is filming on location in Cardston, Alberta.

The DVR is set!!

Yo Gabba Gabba has got to be the strangest/spookiest thing on TV since the TeleTubbies...not that there's anything wrong with that. Usually I avoid the program like...well, like anything else with grown men prancing--yes, prancing--around in tight polyester outfits and overacting with guys dressed in large foamy and/or fuzzy monster costumes. Tomorrow is an exception. Not only will I be tuning in, I am DVRing and password protecting the episode. Jack Black is visiting the ga(Y)ng and I'll be watching.
You may recall #23 on my 100 Things About Me list which mentions a little deal that Brent and I have regarding his small crush on Cameron Diaz. Well, Jacky-boy is my #23 deal!! I can't even explain it but I have a not-attracted-to-in-the-conventional-sense crush on this guy. He's N-U-T-S and I love a little crazy.

Lest you think I exaggerate of the nature of the show...

It's going to be AWESOME!!