Unlucky 13?

A friend of mine told me before we left town "If you make the news, then you know you had a good weekend!" Well....

Who would have thought the WILD part of Wild Women's Weekend 13 would be a major wind storm that would knock out our power for 10 hours? What a crazy night!

After the 7 of us met for lunch at Curly's Pub in Lambeau Field -- a thrill for 5/7 of the sisters -- we drove in rain and wind up to Sister Bay. With one stop for ice cream (of course!) along the way. We checked in to Birchwood Lodge and are situated in a renovated farm house (very cool) on a resort, where the rest of it is all a hotel.

We figured we'd wait until if was a least not raining to see the town -- which should be today. After a meal out (great pizza) we came back to the Birchwood Lodge to relax and play some dice game (CLR). The rain was pouring, the wind was howling, the shutters (or something) were clattering... and yet we still made so much noise with our laughing, etc, we couldn't hear it!! (That's why we get a separate building/cabin/cottage... always!)

When the power went out about 9 p.m., we kept shaking dice by candlelight and flashlight. We were a bit unnerved heading to bed in the dark ... insert scary farm house horror movie plot here. Sheesh.

Out the windows, we could see nothing but blackness in the town with the occasional emergency vehicle light. We hoped two things at this point -- that nothing would land on the house or our vehicles... and that it wouldn't get too cold without heat. We got lucky.

A little after 6 a.m. we heard the trucks on our street and the lights (lots of them all over the house) came on. Not too much of a hardship to be without power for 10 hours when you can sleep about 7 of those! What we learned on the news (yes we made the news!) is that Door County was hardest hit by this wind storm with 50 mph winds and 7,000 people without power.

Is this sister weekend unlucky 13?

You'd almost think so. But we all survived. I even have internet access now... and that sun is trying really hard to break through the clouds.

Looking good from here!

Gradual Start

I have two sisters in my house as I type this so now I can say Sister Weekend has officially begun!

I had today off to get a few things done. I am still not packed so what the heck was I doing? Not sure but I know I got a 4-mile run in (going to pick up the car and its 4 new tires at the garage), got 25 minutes on the deck (yes that nice out) and got a wheelbarrow full of pumpkins and gourds at the neighbors' Pumpkin Shed.

OK, the reason I was Halloween shopping had nothing to do with decorating for my sisters. Well, it's a nice gesture, but Carter says after school he "volunteered" to bring in little pumpkins or gourds for all the kids in his homeroom for some homecoming project. So we went over to the neighbors and picked out 27 little pumpkins ... and few other goodies. At least I can check that off my list.

My sister Rayna flew up from Texas today and my sister Renell picked her up at the Minneapolis airport. They got to Rapids around 5 p.m. We dropped Carter off at confirmation at 6, went out for Mexican (probably silly with a Texan in our midst) and then picked him up and came home.

Yes, we are doing our nails like a true slumber party! And yes, the other 4 sisters got a late start and haven't arrived at their hotel in Wausau yet. Tomorrow morning we'll head out and meet up with them in Green Bay.

For now, though, it's a gradual start. By noon Thursday, we are officially into Wild Women's Weekend XIII.

Lord, help us!

TGIT

Thank God It's Tuesday... which is MY Friday. Seriously.

If there's ever a time to be jealous of being me, now's the time. Coming off a 3-day weekend, I had a 2-day work week to lead into a 5-day weekend.

Oh yes, it does not suck to be me!

Well, it wasn't any fun getting a week's worth of work done in 2 days -- especially that getting up at 4:30 a.m. But we do what we gotta do to enjoy a long (and getting longer each year) sister weekend.

Today we had to leave work shortly after 3 p.m. so we could get to a tailgating party before Carter's football game. Welcome to the big time! It was nice. A school organization provided the burgers, hot dogs, chips and drinks and we parents just had to bring desserts. I made my mom's yummy Sugar Crisp Cookies with some "Assumption Royal Blue" sugar sprinkled on top.

That was almost enough luck to help the team beat those huge farm boys (and one girl) from Stratford, but not quite. We ended up losing 16-14 in a what came down to a missed 2-point conversion in the last minute. Bummer! Apparently the Middle School team has lost to Stratford the last 2 years by a measly "extra point." They just can't break the cycle.

In our boys' defense, though, I will say that there was a monster on the other team. I just can't believe he was only in 8th grade. Not sure what they feed those kids up there! The other unique aspect was that their quarterback was a girl. I worried our boys would hesitate to sack her. But they finally did! She actually had to defend against Carter when he was on offense. No, she did not knock him on his butt or anything.

Thankfully, since he had some fans there... my father-in-law, sister-in-law and my "scrap sister" Jenny and her 2 kids who Carter babysit this summer. It would have been nice to have showed them all a win. But the boys weren't too bummed -- not when they discovered there was leftover food from tailgating. That's teenage boys for you!

Afterwards we ran Carter home so he could do homework and hubby and I went back to the school to watch varsity volleyball. That was fun. When we have all boys, it's nice to know some of my friends are gracious enough to let me "adopt" their daughters once in awhile so I can go to volleyball and girls basketball and have someone to cheer for! Tonight we took the best out of 5 versus Pittsville. Intense stuff. Loved it!

Now I am home and it is almost 10 and I am wondering why I don't have anything packed for Wild Women's Weekend yet!

Good thing it's my Friday today.

Dome Diary

As promised (to fellow Vikings fans anyway), some Purple Pride pictures from our roadtrip to the Dome yesterday...
"We made it! I'm here!" Yes, Carter has been to Twins games at the Dome but not for Vikings football -- until yesterday.
Pretty exciting atmosphere around the plaza outside the dome.

Carter got to meet "Viktor" during training camp so we didn't bother with waiting in line for another photo.

"I'm excited to be here, too!" Not my first Vikings game, but one of the most memorable! Oooh, Adrian Peterson larger than life!

We sat in the second level. Not really that high up, but it took awhile for Carter to get used to it. Notice the gripping of the railing! You can't beat the big smile, though!

The game was sold out -- 62,466 tickets, I think -- so we obviously were shooting these pictures more than an hour before game time.

We wandered around the upper level awhile, hoping to catch a glimpse of Adrian Peterson in warmups. And we did!

Joe Webb, Toby Gearhart, Lorenzo Booker and Adrian Peterson in pregame huddle.

"Hi Adrian. Nice to meet you!"

"OK, I'm not taller than Adrian Peterson... but I'm almost taller than my mom!"

Carter stands between two of favorites: Jared Allen and Percy Harvin. Got to see some big plays out of both of them so that was cool.

Carter was excited to see the FOX Sports camera man. This is the big time!

Their drum line is called the Skol Line. Clever and talented.

Former Vikings kicker and Vikings all-time leading scorer Fred Cox sounds the Gjallarhorn to signal "The Vikings are coming!"

The team enters the field through the inflated Vikings ship -- met with cheers and fireworks. Cool.

Pregame cheering and flag waving.

Quarterback Donovan McNabb steps onto the field before his, well, mediocre performance. He has yet to impress me. But I don't hate him or anything.

Obligatory snapshot of cheerleaders for hubby, who didn't come with us. We honestly had agreed years ago we weren't going to spend anymore money on the Vikings. But that doesn't mean we couldn't spend it on Carter and the Vikings. So he encouraged Carter and I to go by ourselves.

Action in the first half -- when we actually scored.

The purple defense lines up.

Before Sunday's game, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had not been sacked. We changed that and got 4 yesterday!

At the end of the day, though, that still wasn't enough. The Lions roared back from being down 20-0 at halftime to tie it and eventually win it.

Waiting for overtime to start, Carters says, "No matter what happens, this has been so awesome!!"

Skol, Carter!

There's No Place Like Dome

Just got home from a roundtrip to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome for Carter's first Vikings game!

I will have to tell you all about it tomorrow, but I seriously have to get to bed and get up for work in like 7 hours so I just can't bother with the pictures and storytelling right now. What I can tell you is that, despite the final score, we had an absolutely wonderful time!

In a nutshell, Carter learned three things:

1) There is no place louder than the Dome! Not even the race track! I can't tell you how many times we had goosebumps!!

2) No matter how big our lead is, the Vikings will always blow it and break our hearts. And week after week we'll go back for more abuse time and time again! (And somehow like it.)

3) It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you experience the game!

To quote Carter: "Where we live, I always feel like we're the only Viking fans in the world. Here we're surrounded by 62,000 other Viking fans! It's awesome!!"

More later...

Anti-Midas Touch

Well I continued to break things today. Sort of. I knew I should have stayed in bed!

Probably part of the problem was that I did stay in bed too long, was anxious to get a move on and didn't think things through. Therefore, I was in a hurry. And therefore, paid for it.

I decided to wash the rugs from both bathrooms. Nothing too risky with that, right? I guess if I would have looked at the back side of one of them I might have realized the backing was coming off -- in tiny rubber squares -- and wouldn't have thrown it in the washer. But I didn't see that. So I did.

What happened when I went down in the basement later was those tiny rubber squares not only found their way all over the other rugs and the inside of the washing machine, but they clogged the drain in the rinse tub so the water had no place to go. What do you think happens to a tub that is holding wash water then a full load of rinse water? Yep, it floods.

What a mess I had on my hands! So I had unanticipated cleaning, mopping and drying for hours today. That threw my schedule for a loop. In fact, I just finished my Saturday vacuuming a little while ago. Seriously.

On a positive note, Carter and I spent about 2 hours running errands and shopping -- including some items for my upcoming sister weekend -- so I am set for that pretty much. Just need to pack!

After supper, I whipped up some Sugar Crisp Cookies with Assumption Royal Blue sprinkles on them for Tuesday's Middle School tailgating party. Tuesday? Yes, I am working ahead since I won't be home much tomorrow or Monday. So I can cross that off the list.

Just got done printing our directions and ticket info for tomorrow's Viking game. I made sure Carter picked out all his purple and yellow gear tonight so we can get up and hit the road by 7 a.m. I cannot wait to take him to his first Vikings game! I think we're both too excited to sleep! He will be having visions of Adrian Peterson in his head and I will be fretting about what's going to happen next with this anti-Midas Touch of mine.

Of course, if bad things come in 3's, I'm done -- almost broken camera, falling shower rod and minor flooding. I would hope weire in for something good tomorrow.

I'd take a win, too!

On a Roll

You kind of know it's gonna be a good football day when the player that lives in this house anyway wakes up with an attitude. A good attitude. A tough attitude. A football attitude.

Assumption didn't have school today (some teacher meeting) so I took the day off to spend it with Carter. I was out of bed by 8 a.m. but not much before. Carter got up shortly after.

"Wow, you're up early, Mom."

"Well I've been up for a while," I said, not indicating it was less than 15 minutes earlier.

"Oh," he says. "How many miles did you go?"

"Uhm, none."

Apparently the only reason to get up early on a day off is to go running. Or, in my case, get going on a productive day. And in Carter's case, to get fired up about today's football game. He told me that Marshfield Columbus, our opponent of the day, beat our Middle School team last year on a last-second score. So now our team wanted revenge. And they were pretty fired up about it coming off of a road win Tuesday.

Note to readers: That "fired up" feeling did not extend to any other area today, notably housework and yardwork. Carter did crush some cans but that was it on the expending energy part.

I, on the other hand, was trying to get some things done but seemed to be breaking everything I touched!

My camera somehow fell off the kitchen counter and landed right on the rim of the lens, bending it so that I could not turn the camera on because the lens couldn't extend anymore. Oh did I curse and cry! All I could think of was all the things I needed to take pictures of in coming days -- Carter's football game, the Vikings game at the Dome on Sunday and my sister weekend next week. I was devastated.

But then decided I would see if I could "bend" the metal back into place. Without, of course, breaking the plastic part of the lens. I know I shouldn't mess with it but I was distraught and not thinking straight. Miraculously, with some minute movements of a teeny tiny flathead screwdriver, I bent it back enough so I can at least operate it again.

Whew.

I should have just parked my butt on the couch and left everything else alone. But I took the day off to get things done so that wasn't an option.

A little while later, when I was cleaning Carter's shower, for some unexplained reason, the bar that holds the shower curtain came crashing down. On my head. Not just my head, my face. Above my right eye. Boy did that smart! If you thought I was cursing earlier... boy. I finished the job but do have a little lump to show for it.

I was on a roll. And not the good kind.

I kept hoping that nothing else would go wrong. The only thing that did was out of my control -- not that the other two things were my fault in any way!

It had been sunny most of the day, but as soon as I drove Carter into town at 3:15 to get him to the football field early it started to rain. And the temperature dropped. Thankfully I was wearing my new, warm Assumption Football sweatshirt...and hubby brought an umbrella. After all that messing with the camera to get it to work, it was crappy weather to take pictures anyway. I also was operating the video camera, too, and froze my fingers. I might have something to post at some point if I can figure it out.

The good news is that the rain didn't dampen that fire our boys had. They got their revenge and beat Columbus 14-6! Whoo-hoo! Now that is a good roll to be on!

Carter had a good game. Nothing spectacular to report -- but no penalties either! That's good. Tonight, he and his teammates had a moment in the spotlight at our high school game. All the Middle School players got introduced at halftime out on the field. They were still pretty riled up!

The varsity team ended up winning their cold game against Loyal. At least the rain stayed away. I was already bundled up in a turtle neck, sweatshirt, winter jacket and blanket. Did not need the rain. I probably would have broken the umbrella anyway.

That's how I roll...

Lessons Learned

I sort of felt like I was back in school today -- or back on my old newspaper beat -- when I got to sit back and actually listen and learn something.

This morning I attended a conference for work that happened to be held in Wisconsin Rapids so I got to sleep in and drive 15 minutes to work instead of 50. Nice.

You know what else was nice? Getting out of the office and interacting with people. I miss that about my current "office job." Not that I would go back to the daily grind of newspapers, but it was refreshing to sit, take notes, ask questions and just talk to other humans who don't share your coffee pot or yell over the cubicle walls at you. (No offense to my co-workers.)

By sheer coincidence, the woman sitting next to me was from a "little town up north I'm sure you've never heard of." She was referring to Amery, which is just down the road from Luck. Small world. We couldn't get over that!

The workshop ended close to noon. I was supposed to drop the car off at the garage for an oil change around noon. So I raced home, changed into running gear and went to drop the car off. This is that garage I used to think was 3 miles away but it's over 4. By necessity, I had to hoof it home.

I decided to ease back into running and, well, moving my legs, period. So I put my music on and walked for a song, then ran for 3 songs and repeated. That seemed to work. My legs didn't protest too much and I got home in time to get a whole lotta work done for the afternoon. Lesson learned: I could survive a half-marathon and not be forced into running retirement. (Darn.)

After work, Jim graciously gave me a ride to get the car (I'm not quite ready to do 8 miles in one day) and I went to pick Carter up from football practice. He's all excited because he has no homework and he doesn't have school tomorrow.

I have the day off, too, so the lesson he'll learn is: When Mom has off and I have nothing to do, she'll find something.

Hmm, Didn't See That Comin'

Every once in awhile life throws you a little curve ball. Thank the Lord it's rarely anything more serious than adjusting to a new Facebook page.

For those of you not a social networking participant or addict... It seems the powers that be just changed Facebook and its functioning just for the sake of changing it. While I have taken special classes to learn how to embrace change, I really don't like change for the sake of change. Not when I don't see it coming. And not when it's the first thing I am dealing with at breakfast.

But, as my serenity prayer notes, I need to just accept it because frankly, there is nothing I can control about this. And yes, frankly, there are so many more important things going on than updating my status.

As I tell my blessed hubby, there is never a shortage of people to pray for! I have friends who have sick moms and grandmas and some who are sick themselves. I have a friends whose in-laws just lost their home and all belongings to a fire. I have a teeny tiny great-nephew who needs some extra strength in this new world. I have loved ones grieving the loss of other loved ones.

Am I living a charmed life? No. God could send something my way tomorrow that I don't see coming. But He also will give me the strength to deal with it.

In the meantime, He'll just test me once in awhile just to see if I am paying attention... Like tonight when I picked Carter up from football practice and saw his pinky finger taped up. I didn't even get time to worry. I just asked what happened, assuming I'd hear of a football injury following some extreme act of bravery or athletic prowess. Instead, I hear: "Oh I just cut my finger on (male classmate's) long fingernails when we were both grabbing for the last cookie in homeroom."

Yep, I'm probably due.

Our Own Glee

You'll probably never hear me say this again, but I missed the season premiere of Glee and I am OK with that.

Aren't you gonna ask me why? Because it was a joyful -- gleeful even -- day all by itself.

One: My recovering body did not have any worse pain than yesterday. It wasn't any better, but it certainly wasn't any worse.

Two: The Assumption Middle School football team finally got its first win!!

We roadtripped to Marathon (just west of Wausau) to take on the Red Raiders. Since we were up by two scores almost right away, Carter got lots of playing time compared to usual. So he was on the specials teams for kickoffs and returns, then also played a lot of defense as safety and cornerback, and even played tailback and end on offense. That was awesome.

He ended up getting one tackle on the second half kickoff and carried the ball -- yes, he did -- in a 2-point conversion attempt. He pretty much got stuffed but at least he got his hands on the ball. The only downer was that he got a penalty for a block in the back while a teammate was scoring a touchdown. Nothing more awkward than sitting in the stands next to a mom cheering for her son's first TD then having it called back because your son got a penalty. Yikes. At least they weren't too mad. But only because we were winning 32-8! Good game, Royals.

We got home exactly at 8 p.m. so exactly when Glee was over. Don't tell me what happened. I'll still watch it on the computer tomorrow.

Three: The other good news is that I am a great aunt. Oh, I mean a really great one! My nephew Tim in South Dakota welcomed his second son into the world tonight -- 6 weeks early! It has been a stressful 24 hours of a lot of praying. Baby Tyson is so little -- 4 lbs., 10 oz. -- so the praying will continue. Thankfully baby and momma are doing well so far.

Four: There is only one team that is still undefeated in our fantasy football league. I'll give you a clue whose team it is ... she's the only girl. Whoo-hoo!

See, I wasn't kidding. There is much to be gleeful about today. It would be too painful to get up and do any sort of happy dance. But you get the picture.

Easy Does It

Knowing there would be a good chance I just might be a bit sore today, I did some pre-emptive icing of my back and my legs last night. I think it helped a little bit.

I was able to leap out of bed in a single bound. Well, a slow-motion bound. I was a little stiff and sore. I kind of felt like I'd been hit by a truck. But it was one I managed to outrun for 13 miles and it only got me in the last .1!

How did I get through the day?

In a word: Friends.

I got a congratulatory cup of McCafe caramel latte from my friend Toni at the start of the work day. Got some nice high fives from other co-workers. Shortly after I got home, my friend Christine came over -- with ice cream! -- and we sat and relaxed in the hot tub for an hour. Then, right after she left, my BFF from high school called to say congrats. What great friends! Thanks for supporting me!

Interspersed with all that was my other friend: Ibuprofen.

That got me through the dreaded "day after" until my marathon-ing buddy mentioned, "You know, it's always the second day after that gets you!"

Nice. I better get to bed. I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring!

But then, when do we?

13.1

13.1.

Such a little number but it certainly deserves BIG bragging rights, let me tell you!

Uff da. I can now cross Half-Marathon off my bucket list. I finished!!

Got up in time. My friend and "half" sister Chris and I got on the 5:30 a.m. shuttle and confirmed our race strategy. Just like in training, we were going to run a mile, walk one minute, run a mile, walk one minute, etc. We'd stick together and smile at the finish line. That was the plan anyway.

The good news right off the bat was that we had pretty good weather for it. Cool and sunny to start, then windy and cloudy but it did not rain when I was running anyway. Chalk that up to one of the many positives about this event.

They capped the Half at 3,800 runners (photo courtesy Fox Cities Marathon Facebook page). Quite a group, eh? Not too big for the organizers -- who honestly made sure each and every one of us was taken care of. Along this very long route, we not only had water and Gatorade stations, we had Kleenex stations (although I had 8 packed in my pocket), Vaseline stations (for that irritating chaffing) and GU gel stations (I carried my own since I didn't want to try out a new flavor on race day). But that's not all.

Also along this very, very long route (you can't imagine how long), there were DJs, boom boxes blaring run tunes at the ends of driveways and live bands (including a nice jazz ensemble). There were cheering groups of fans all the time. Some held up signs for friends and family (Go, Mommy, go!) or just yelled encouragement to us. Since our race bibs had our first names in bold, I could hear people saying, "Keep it up, Robyn" and it would get me through awhile.

We also got to pin signs on our backs about what "moves" us...
C'mon, you gotta love that! I got a lot of comments on that so I know I'm not the only fan!

A couple other things I recall from the mother of all races (for me anyway)...

In the first mile of the race, there was a kid and dad holding up a sign that said: Worst. Parade. Ever. Is that not the best sign ever? We all laughed out loud.

At mile 4 we saw an appropriate sign: Find your happy pace. Cute.

Shortly after mile 6, I said, "This is officially the farthest I've run in a race!" (I just did that 10K/6.2 miles and everything else has been shorter. To date.)

At mile 8, in the sea of Packer green, I saw a cheering kid wearing an Adrian Peterson jersey. I run over there and get a high-five and say, "Go Vikings!" Trust me, that carried me through that mile!

At mile 9, I hit a wall. I was struggling. Up to that point, I'd dealt with some pain in my left leg (thankfully just during miles 2-4) and a stitch in my left side, which I willed away. The nice thing was that at this point, we were running along the lake -- Lake Winnebago -- so I just concentrated on the pretty scenery. And breathing. I told Chris, "Don't slow down for me. Just keep running at our pace and I'll try to keep up."

At mile 11, I proclaimed: "This is the farthest I've ever run. In my life!" In training, we'd always say, "What's 2.1 more miles after that?"

I'll tell you what it is: Hell. Oh my gosh, it was so hard. (But I guess if it was easy, everybody would be running half marathons!) I told Chris to just go ahead so she could finish with a good time. I knew we were right on pace for 11-minute miles but I didn't know if I could keep that up for 22+ more minutes. And right then I didn't know if I wanted to puke, pass out or lay down and take a nap.

At the 12-mile marker, the drink station was all these people dressed up in Gilligan's Island clothes with the grass skirts and coconut bras (even the guys). I smiled and thought, this it the point where I told myself I was going to sprint (ha) the last mile or at least run as hard as I could. However, my legs felt like lead and it seemed like I was going a half-mile an hour. I looked at my watch and knew I couldn't walk if I was going to finish in less than 2 1/2 hours. I kept saying to myself, don't walk or you're going to be really ticked if you miss your goal by a stupid minute. So I kept going somehow.

What helped was that the entire last mile of the route was packed with people with signs and noisemakers and cheering. It almost made me cry. It was so cool how supportive they all were. Even the sign that said, "Remember, you actually paid to do this!" (I know. What was I thinking?!)

When I made the last turn, I could see the big FINISH line sign a mile away. Well it seemed like a mile. Probably a quarter mile. I knew I had precious few minutes to get there in time, but somehow I did! I crossed at 2:28. Two minutes better than my goal!
Here I am after I had crossed the line. I'm on the left there in the white hat.
If I zoom in you can see I'm just trying to breathe!
I don't even want to zoom in here or you'll see the pain on my face. I was seriously a bit disoriented at this point. But then they handed me my FINISHER's medal, wrapped a Mylar blanket around me to help me acclimate to the cool air temperature, and I heard hubby's whistle. I turned and saw Jim and Carter and staggered over to them with a huge smile on my face, pointing to my stop watch. "Look, I finished in 2:28!"
Chris finished 2 minutes ahead of me and came over to congratulate me and get our picture with our medals.

They are pretty darn cool!! It's actually a windmill on there but at first glance, I got excited and thought it was a lighthouse. Ha. I'll still keep it!! Smiling more with water in hand and my "Half-Marathon Finisher" shirt!

We refueled on their goodies and knew we had to just keep moving for awhile. My right calf muscle suddenly seized up on me a bit, so we stopped by a big tree so I could stretch. And stretch. I wanted to get one more picture in the beautiful Finish Line park.

Then we walked a mile to the car (that was good for us) and went back to the hotel so I could shower and we could head out of town. Next stop: King Cone in Plover.

Don't even say I don't deserve it!

Marathon Eve

I think I've found an alternative to Christmas Eve when it comes to the level of excitement and anticipation!

I'm sitting here in a hotel in Appleton and pretty much have to be sound asleep in 15 minutes to get my 8 hours. Something tells me it's not gonna happen that quickly.

My friend Chris and her two daughters picked me up at 1 p.m. When we got to town, we had to go pick up our race packets, timing chips and goodie bags. We also got to walk around an expo and get a few freebies and some items that weren't so free. We both found a new "energy belt" that we like better than the ones we've worn during training. So we'll test that out tomorrow.

I know. It's not good to switch anything up last minute, but this will be good so I don't have to stuff my shorts pockets with Kleenexes and GU gel and the all-important pedometer (gotta count these steps).

After the expo we went shopping at the Fox River Mall. Just about bought a new running shirt for tomorrow but decided no, no more changes.

Ate supper down the road at Fuddrucker's tonight and now it's time to hit the sack. Just gotta call my boys since I'm pretty sure they won't be up with me at 4:30. And yes, I will get up in time. I have a wake-up call from the front desk at 4:30, the room alarm set for 4:32 and my cell phone alarm set for 4:33 a.m. Not that I am paranoid.

Frankly, right now I'm just anxious to get it started. I better sign off so Santa can come.... er, Sunday can come!

Penguin Power

I learned today that there is a name for people like me.

Wait, wait, wait. Before words like Whack-Job, Hoarder and Procrastinator start rolling off your tongue, I'll just tell you...

Penguin.

Penguin? Yes. Penguin.

In the running lexicon, the word "Penguin" has come to mean a person who runs more for the joy of running than for recognition or public reward (though we love a fluke medal now and then). These are people who don't have the need for speed. We don't necessarily waddle like a Penguin, but we aren't flying either. And somehow we are OK with that.

I was just relieved to know there are other people out there just like me. Including John Bingham, who encourages runners like me to embrace our inner Penguin. Once an overweight couch potato with a glut of bad habits, including smoking and drinking, at the age of 43 (my age), Bingham looked midlife in the face and started running. Since then he has completed 40 marathons, hundreds of 5K and 10K races and developed a whole new outlook.

I can see how that happens.

As much as I absolutely hated running or anything resembling it in high school, in the past 5 years, I've come to love it. I have never been much of an athlete. I am still a runner hiding in the body of a shot putter (no offense, fellow field event participants) -- but now I feel like an athlete. For the first time.

On Sunday, I don't expect any great finishing time. My goal is just to finish. To say: "I ran a half-marathon!" I would like to complete it in less than 2 1/2 hours, but if I don't, I still can cross the finish line and say: "I ran a half-marathon!"

This is a bit crazy. I wouldn't have dreamed this 25 years ago or 5 years ago... or even a year ago for that matter. But somehow this old lady finds herself 34 hours away from the starting gun.

Bingham sums it up best with this quote: "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."

It is kind of scary. Especially right now when there's no turning back. Tomorrow afternoon my "half" sister and I will head to the Fox Cities, pick up our race packets and timing chips and gradually replace our nerves with excitement.

And I'll go to bed in the hotel room embracing my inner Penguin.

Seriously, did you doubt I was a Penguin? It certainly explains my love for ICE cream!

Moon Walk

Last night on the way home from grocery shopping, we noticed the full moon rising over the tree tops. I said, "Oooh" and "Aww" and thought it would make a nice picture. I reached around to the backseat and, as luck would have it, I had my camera with.

Hubby, being the accommodating "Let me stop and take a picture" driver, said he'd drive me to the lake for a nice view. Sounds like a line to me! And that's fine. We had a nice romantic walk on the lake path and then, it was so darn cold out, I really couldn't hold my camera steady.

So the big beautiful moon is a bit blurry!

But it sure did make a pretty reflection on Lake Wazeecha!

Not something I was able to record without a steady hand or a tripod in order to keep the lens open long enough to capture it appropriately.

In a Photoshop-enhanced photo, you can see there was some neat landscape, too, as it reflected. At least I can recall it in my mind. And it was a good excuse to hold hubby's warm hands!

I'm not joking about the chill, either. Last night it did get down into the 30s. Woke up to 32 degrees with a windchill (seriously) of 27. B-r-r-r! That is the perfect weather to stay snuggled in the warm bed and play hooky.
But we didn't.

I'll have to save that for those cold mornings when the plow hasn't gone through... and let's hope those are as far away as the moon appears to be in my photos!

Just Briefly

I love being a mom -- even when it cuts into my blogging time. Tonight after grocery shopping I had to quickly cut Carter's hair so he could shower then finish his home work and next -- "when you get a moment, Mom" -- I have to go iron his shirt for tomorrow. So I'll keep this brief.

Fall Colors: Freeze warning tonight is not the only sign of Autumn today. My hair got its fall colors! Well, of course, this is the leading news story! What were you expecting?? There seriously is a freeze warning tonight as temps dip into the low 30s. A friend in Duluth already reported a snow sighting tonight, too.

Bus Route: For the first time since school started, Carter did not have football practice or a game so he had to ride the bus home. Though I am sure nothing changed since last year, he was nervous about getting on the right bus after school. Have I mentioned he's a worry wart? Well he got on the bus fine and managed to get all of his homework done (except reading) before going to confirmation, which started tonight. Gotta love our jam-packed schedule. And we wonder why time flies!

Wild Turkey: I made the mistake today of watching a fast time-elapsed video of our half-marathon course. Up until today I have been looking forward to Sunday. After watching the video, I got my first case of nerves. The butterflies were dancing like crazy in my stomach. At least I thought they were butterflies. When I went for a 4-mile run tonight, I saw 12 -- yes, a whole dozen -- wild turkeys cross the road in front of me. I thought, "Dang, it wasn't butterflies in my tummy after all. I bet it was wild turkeys!" It sure felt like it.

... Just breathe ...

Smoke Signals

If you smelled smoke in Wisconsin today, you may have thought it was the now winless Assumption Middle School football team sending up smoke signals for help.

In reality, we are dealing with smoke from a massive wildfire raging through the Boundary Waters park area in Minnesota. Yes, hundreds and hundreds of miles away and we could smell it and see it in Wisconsin Rapids and even over in Iola.

This is especially devastating in such a beautiful natural area. But it sure made for some unique sunrise photos! Since Carter had a football game today I just happened to have my camera in the car on the way to work. No, the sky was not blood red like above, but the camera sure captured the "heat" of the moment.
The sky was not black either. Isn't it interesting that this is how my camera saw it? Even the wisps of smoke or light clouds take on a new aura.

Love the photos -- just not the reason for them.

I did take a few at the football game, too, naturally. But as you can see, they are mostly blurry. The sun was just at the right angle for me not to see my camera's viewing screen. So I just held up the camera, took random shots and hoped to get #81 in them and hoped they were in focus.

When we got to Auburndale (a tad bit late due to a detour), we'd already missed our first score on the kickoff return. We did score again later and so did those large farm kids. So yes, we did lose another game by a touchdown. But the boys were OK with that. One of these days, we'll get a "W".

Carter ready on the kicking team. He finally had his first tackle today!! And yes, the camera sat in the bag so I missed it on "film" but have it in my head. I made sure I had it out the rest of the time, but he did not have a repeat performance.

Besides being a kicking team regular, he subbed in on offense and defense again.

Kickoff coverage. (Sorry so blurry -- would have been a nice shot if I would have known he was in the frame.)

More kickoff coverage. Heading straight for the kick returner.

This time, a teammate got there first. Nice tackle.

Don't those gloves make him look fast? A teammate gave them to him since he got new ones. I thought that was generous. In fact, the way we see it from the stands, it seems the whole team is pretty supportive of each other. I like that.

Maybe by this time next week, there will be no more need for smoke signals.

Spice Girl

I sat staring at my leftover bowl of apples yesterday and knew I had to rectify the situation today. Time to put my Martha hat on and get baking!

I found a recipe (read: EASY) for an Apple Spice Cake and figured I'd give it a try. It is pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself. So I'm going to share the recipe because it is just too easy not to!

Robyn's Easy Apple Spice Cake
(Oh, I can name it what I want when I'm typing this!)

Spice Cake Mix (easy already)
- Mix in eggs, oil and water as listed

3 small apples (if they are off the tree, make it 4 'cause they're so small)
- Peel and chop apples into small pieces then add to cake mix

Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes.

Combine:
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup lemon juice

Mix and spread over cake. Return to oven and bake for 8-10 minutes until done.

Sprinkle cinnamon over top. Cool. Share with your neighbors and family. Then refrigerate leftovers.

Wow, now I feel like I accomplished something! And I did share. Honest.

So now hubby took Carter into town to go watch the middle school soccer team he played on last year. And I have work to do. Real work completely unrelated to my role as Martha Stewart.

I do have a few more apples left, though, so stay tuned for more treats and maybe another secret EASY recipe!

Hope in Community

In July of 2009, a young local woman named Lacey was diagnosed with Leukemia. I did not know her personally but knew family members and friends of hers. Anyone who knew her said she was always kind and had a friendly smile for everyone.

It wasn't surprising then that in the 6 months between her diagnosis and her death, there was an outpouring of support for her and her family in this community. A largely successful benefit was held to raise money for medical bills related to cancer treatments.

After Lacey's death, the family decided to give back to the community by holding a Smile from Lacey event to raise money for a fund designed to help families in our community battling serious illness without insurance.

It started small last year and this year has expanded to a whole weekend of activities including a 5K run appropriately called Hope in Community. I had wanted to be part of something special today on the 10th anniversary of 9-11. So I chose this.

There are so many heroes being honored today. I don't want us to forget about the courage it takes to battle a serious illness or life-threatening disease. And the rare individuals who can do that and smile. God bless them.

Our neighborhood contingency -- the Desperate Housewives of Blue Jay Drive -- numbered 4 runners today supporting this cause. There was also a half-marathon option but we all did the 5K. I'll save my half for next weekend!

What I have discovered this summer is that with my long-distance training of "you go slow, you go far," I have had much slower times doing short 5Ks. Hubby came by before the start so he could take some pictures. I said, "Start looking for me at the 30-minute mark, but hopefully before the 33." Hey, I've never claimed to be fast!

I had a smile for him at the start. It was sunny and warm and I just wanted to run well. It felt good today. Sometimes I get started too fast and lose my breath. Today, I paced myself and figured I'd finish at about 32 the way it was going. Then, for some reason in the last mile, a woman caught up to me and I suddenly had this drive to finish ahead of her. I thought she might be in my "age group" so I, being of competitive mind at times, pushed myself. As I got toward the finish, I really, really, really had to push myself to finish under 30. And I did!

Just barely! Look at the time! Ha. And see my lovely face? Let's just say I was glad that was over. And surprise of all surprises, I finished 2nd in my age group... well enough to get a medal today! My very first one, ever! I was ecstatic! Yes, it was a small field of runners so in a much larger race, there is no way I would have placed in the top 5 with that finish time. But I don't care. After all my "attempts," I've earned it!

As luck -- and skill -- would have it, neighbor Marigene (left) finished first in my age group and neighbor Cindy finished first for her age group and for women overall. You can't get much bigger smiles than that!

I think Lacey would have liked that.

God bless her and all we remember, honor and miss today.