Wild Goose Chase 5K

SNOWED all day yesterday, so I kind of HOPED I'd get to the 5K race site this morning and find that they'd cancelled it due to weather.

~No Such Luck~

I arrived at 9:00 this morning in Delta, Utah, for the Wild Goose Chase 5K/10K Run/Walk. I had signed up for the 5k Walk section, but planned to jog as much as I could, in spite of the fact that this morning I was only one pound lower than my highest weight of

ALL TIME!

I've been a faithful exerciser since January, but not so faithful with the eating habits, so I haven't dropped any weight.... but I still felt ready to plug along and do my best to finish a 5K today....

Mostly so I could say "BEEN THERE, DONE THAT.. GOT THE T-SHIRT!"

I met up with my friends Brent and Amanda and we stretched out together, but I knew I'd never be able to keep up with them. Brent's been running really regularly and Amanda's a tiny little thing with the determination to be successful at whatever she tries. So I stuck Kurt's skull candies in my ears, shuffled the iPod and zoned out at the start line. I kept up with Amanda for a minute, but she was awesome. She finished 6 minutes faster than her best training time, in spite of the fact that we were trudging through

MUD as we circled the Gunnison Bend Reservoir.
I jogged some, walked some, but was determined to jog the last 1/4 mile (Because everyone could see me!) Got close to what I thought what was the finish line, only to find that it was about another 1/8 mile or so. Thought I'd

cry.....

And then my

GUARDIAN ANGEL

appeared at my side. Amanda's daughter, Kourtney, materialized out of the blue and jogged with me to the finish line.

"You're almost there!"

she'd say.. and I believed her.... and I was...

ALMOST THERE!

And then I was.. THERE... done.... I'd finished a 5K with a body that really shouldn't have been able to do it. It was 30 degrees outside and I was burning hot.. At Mile 1, I had ripped off my gloves. Mile 1.5, I lost the scarf around my ears. And LONGED to have dressed in layers so I could shed the hoodie, but alas, I wore the Utah Jazz hoodie through the entire race. I drove all the way home, 50 miles, with the windows down in the Jeep and my face was still this red when I got home. And I'm ready to do it again. Get a little lighter, a little faster and a little better each time....

Thank you

to everyone who said I could. I did.

I am a Child of God

I saw Thurl Bailey in the temple when I was there for my cousin Bethany's wedding. We met Billy Dean through Kurt's work at the radio station when Ashli was a little girl and he was so cute with her, picking her up and talking to her. They're both just amazing men. And THESE are amazing kids:)

OK, OK, I Apologize!

I wrote a blog post a week or so ago about how I feel ignored by my husband. I thought he'd be moved to tears when he read it. See things my way and humbly apologize for making me feel so invisible. Yeah, no. He was moved, but not to tears. He was pretty upset for a few days. Angry that I called him a selfish, well, you know, a selfish @*&^$@^& for the whole world to read. I tried to assure him that the "whole world" doesn't even read my blog. Nobody really cares that much about the ramblings of a frumpy middle-aged housewife in the middle of Utah. And those who DO read it are women who probably feel the same way I do occasionally.

He wasn't buying it, so I pulled the post, moved the blog to "private" and pouted for a few days. Then I put it back up and decided I better do some damage control.

He's not selfish ALL the time...

Once when he was heading out on the truck for a few days (probably 16 years ago) and we were SO BROKE, he walked down to the Pepsi machine at his Dad's trailer park and spend all the change he could round up to put a Diet Pepsi in the fridge for me.

When we were in the midst of our war over the original blog post, he met me and the kids in Provo at midnight to watch Valentines Day, a chick flick, even though he had to work the next morning.

He loves to play recreational sports. We used to spend at least three nights a week in the gym or on the ball field somewhere while he played ball with his friends. But as our kids got older and I had my hands full, he eventually played less and less until finally he pretty much quit playing everything but Old Mens' Softball and started reffing and umping instead to earn a little extra money for our family.

One day in the summer of 2008 I made us an appointment for something that was really important to me. On our way to Provo, we had the radio on and something came on about the MLB All-Star game being played THAT NIGHT at Yankee Stadium. In the midst of all that went on that summer, I hadn't even realized when the All Star game was. He knew, of course, but he didn't say a word about it. Just got in the car and went to Provo with me for our appointment. That was definitely the least selfish thing he's ever done.

So I vow to notice the little things he does on a daily basis and have fewer pity parties as I navigate through my mid-life crisis, and most definitely to quit blaming him for EVERYTHING. I'll continue to blame him for things that really are his fault, but I'll try really hard not to post it for the "whole world" to see.

He's 43 years old today. Happy Birthday, Kurt! Love you:)

Don't You Know Who I Am?

Maybe it's common for people who have been married for 21 years. I don't know. My husband will never read this. He knows I have a blog but he just doesn't have time to sit and read it, but IF he did, I'd love to ask:

1. What was my Facebook status this morning?
2. What is my favorite hymn?
3. What is my favorite color?
4. Other than the day my Mom passed away, what was the date of the worst day of my life?
5. What is my bra size?
6. What is my favorite brand of deodorant?
7. What is my favorite restaurant?
8. What color eye shadow do I wear?
9. What color are my nails painted right now?
10. Did I mop the kitchen today?

I guess the point is, he would know none of those answers.

And I would tell him.. You don't update your facebook status unless something is really important to you. You got two new Facebook friends today and you have $752,649 in Texas Hold 'Em chips. You fluctuate between $600,000 to $1Million in poker chips, and if you got down to $500,000 you'd spend hours trying to build up your account again. You like the hymn "Put your Shoulder to the Wheel" but you were moved by "Lord I Would Follow Thee" when Fran taught it to us in Primary. You've held to saying that orange is your favorite color, but the truth is you really don't care that much about any color. You have more important things to think about than what color you like. You like white T-shirts, blue hats and black hoodies but you'll wear anything. The worst day of your life was the day your Uncle Rick died, although there were lots of days that pretty much sucked both before and after that one. Your jeans fluctuate between 2 different sizes, so we keep some of each size in jeans for you.
You simply don't have a favorite brand of deodorant. You buy whatever is cheapest and only because it's necessary to have it. You really don't care. I buy you "sport" scents because I like them, but you really coudn't care less. Sizzler is your favorite restaurant. I know you think it's mine, but the reason we always go there is really because it's your favorite. When your back is hurting, you get a knot of tension at the base of your spine on the right hand side. It will hurt for atleast a week, sometimes as much as a few weeks, but it eventually gets feeling better only to happen again a few times a year. You don't want to go to the doctor for anything, so if you do go , I know you're really hurting. You're most proud of the fact that you work hard and you most enjoy peace and quiet here at home. You don't like big noisy family gatherings and you would prefer to simply stay home all weekend unless you have tickets to a game. You'll go to movies but you'd rather not. You don't cry, but Ashli has the power to make it happen. You like your hair short and you hate to wear cologne. You prefer to shave in the shower, not at the bathroom sink. You like all kinds of music, depending on the mood you're in that day, even the stations the kids listen to. You enjoy touching base with your friends as often as possible, but preferrably through text and not a phone call. You hate to talk on the phone. You would rather have a bag of chips than a bag of licorice. You love the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys and the Utah Jazz. You love vacationing in New York, but think it's time to go somewhere else. You regret that you've never been to Mexico and hope that it's still in the cards for you someday. You love your kids, your nieces and nephews, and every baby you see in church or that our friends are blessed enough to have. You'd like to buy a radio station someday.