We did it!

My car all decorated cute.
Van #2 - Carrie, Patty, Allison, Kris, Liz and myself
Mary passing off to Kris - that's the van exchange.
Kris passing off to Patty
Kris, Patty and Allison looking so lovely in the car.
Me, after I did my first leg. Don't I look hot??? (In more ways than one?)

In the middle of the night - again looking oh so lovely with a head lamp!
Kris after walking at about 2:30 am.
Van #1 - Susan, Temple (yes, that's her name - I kept calling her Twinkle though!), Angie and Mary - Allison and Lara in the background
Here I come!
Finished... and still alive!

We survived! 127 miles; 28 hours, 11 minutes, 48 seconds. Averaging a 13:16 minute mile - not me, mine is closer to 15 minutes... but we have some ladies on our team who are crazy (and have much longer legs than I do!) and walk about a 12 minute mile. We came in 33rd out of 145 female teams. We got no sleep - ok, maybe an hour, really doesn't count... does it? Smelled a WHOLE LOT!!! Ate a bunch of junk! And would we do it again... you betcha!

Lesson I learned this year though, training really helps! I wanted to do the last leg... the glory leg. Be the one to go into the beach, with all the cheers. But I tell you, by the time it got to the last leg, and everyone had already done their second leg, I so didn't want to do it! I was so tired and out of sorts. I just sort of strolled along. Probably about a 15 1/2 minute mile (5.25 miles), when my first round was closer to 14 minutes (4.89 miles). I was tired, sore, and having a problem breathing by the time I came in because I was so overwhelmed by the whole thing. But I'd still do it again... just remember the whole training thing!

Now, it's just on to Back to School Night (s - I've got two schools to go to), and then school starting next week. Still so much going on!

Off to the races!

It's nearing the end of August, which means... Hood to Coast! Hood to Coast is a giant running team race in which teams of usually 12 do an approxiamately 24 hour race that goes about 200 miles, from Mt. Hood to the coast of Oregon. As well as Hood to Coast, there is also Portland to Coast which is a walking race. It is a little bit after 9:00 am, and we are almost done with our third walker. As a team of 12, we will walk 127 miles starting at 5:45 this morning, going until about 10:00 tomorrow morning. I am in the second van and getting ready for my team to arrive. I will be walking a bit over 5 miles tonight around 6:00, and then I will be walking the last leg (another 5 miles) tomorrow morning which goes into the beach, with all the crowd cheering. It's really cool! What an adreneline rush! This is the second year that I've done this, and although it's a lot of work, we always have a great time! No sleep, lots of stinky women and tired feet. What's better than that?

Wish us luck! Goooo Happy Feet (that's our team name!)!!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Paula (yesterday!)!!!

Sorry I'm a day late! We were thinking of you lots yesterday and hoping that you were having a great birthday! We love you and miss you tons!!!

(OK, this picture is from like 3 years ago, and it's a picture of a picture, but it's the best I could find on short notice.)

Love you mom!!!

Sugar overload.

So, it's early in the morning, and I am awake, about to head out to a doctor's appointment. With my last two pregnancies, I was diabetic so my doctor is sending me to the lab to do like a 5-hour glucose test (no, I'm not pregnant now!) to make sure that I'm not insulin-intolerant (something like that.). Lucky me! Those of you that know me, know that I LOVE sugar... and I HATE needles... so it's really a lose-lose situation for me! Oh well. Gotta stay healthy. Better to be safe, than sorry... right?

Lots of surprises at our house.

Ok, so last night I go in to use the bathroom, only to find Lightning McQueen drowning in the bottom of the toilet. Oh... the joys of having a little one in the house. When Chad was little, we moved into our house in L.A. and totally lost my house keys. About 2 (yes 2!) years later, Derrick was trying to potty train Chad and he noticed something shiny in the bottom of the toilet. Needless to say, we found my keys. They had been in the toilet for over 2 years, in the "S-pipe" thingy... the bendy part at the bottom that could easily hide things. They were yucky, the keyring had been eaten away, but they still all worked.

So then this morning I walk into the bathroom to find the cats playing with what I think is a toy mouse. Needless to say... not a toy... and very dead. Ok, I don't mind the "gifts" that cats like to bring, but my question is, these are indoor cats, so where did the mouse come from? See the concern here?

And besides that, why all the partying in our bathroom? Aren't there better rooms in our house for parties?

Bye Chad. Love you.

Yesterday morning. 5:00 am. Chad... ready for Scout camp. Doesn't he look excited? You would think that we were sending him off to his death or something. As fun and exciting as everyone has told him Camp Merriweather is, all he can think (and worry) about, is how will he ever sleep, not in his bed. Only time will tell! One of the leaders checked in yesterday afternoon and said that Chad was having a great time, but will have to see how the sleeping goes. Hopefully, considering he's been up since 4:30 in the morning, sleep will not be a problem!