Ho Hum

Well week 18 and a whole summer later, I am sorry to report that my big new adventure was waylaid by an injury. I was training for the Mesa Falls Marathon and made it to week 12 and was going strong when I woke up the morning after my 16 mile run and simply couldn't run or walk anymore without excruciating pain. After $1000 of dr visits and bone scans, my kids' orthodontist diagnosed it as a fascial hematoma. His treatment was the one that seemed to work but by then I had lost 4 weeks of training and could hardly run a mile without getting beat. I tried to run with Sarah for her 20 miler and made it 8 miles here and there only to feel the pain again as strong as before. Until yesterday, I had not ran for 2 weeks solid. I was beginning to think running would be a thing of my past. Who wants to wake up early in the morning anyway? But this week I had a friend ask me to be a running companion to her 9 year old daughter who was registered for our local Triathlon. I would have to run 3 miles and ensure she stayed on course. I honestly was nervous if I could even do this. But I agreed. Now let's just say that a kid runs fast but then tuckers out just as fast. To them it is a race not a pace. While she was sprinting I couldn't keep up with her but as she came to a walk I was able to reach her. After the first mile I was warmed up and was keeping up throughout. It was so much fun and as I reached my runner's high, I remembered why I love to run.
This weekend will be so hard watching Sarah run the marathon alone that I was supposed to be running with her. I am sure it will be emotional for me to miss this opportunity and something that I love so much but she will soar. I am so excited for her to run her first marathon and I plan on forgetting myself and being there for her every step of the way. She has ran and trained and overcome some hardships along the way. I am glad I will be there to watch her accomplish this lifelong goal. Maybe next summer, I will try again. Or maybe I will just be happy being there for those who can.

Garrett

I am sad to report that my nephew Garret Richard Robbins left us this week. I am just so sad. He will be deeply missed. I pray for peace as I come to realize this loss and our new reality without Garrett.

Day One!!!!!

Today is day one of something very big. At this point I am 100% successful. In 18 weeks you will know if I have managed to overcome myself. I'll bet you can guess.

American Idol

So with cold temps and the need for something to hold on to, I have gotten very involved in American Idol this season. So of course the girls have to. I must say that I love DVR as I am rarely home when it is on thanks to soccer, volleyball and piano, etc. Well this week was particularly funny because I noticed Annie was quiet and so I began watching her. She was very intensely writing each time the performer finished. Afterwards, I glanced at her notes and just had to post them here: (Word for word exactly how she wrote them)

DANNY: "I dont no what to say, I likt it but you kina fehl.
KRIS: Its not you I just didint see you.
LIL: I seed a lot of you but it was to slo.
ANOOP: I suet a lot of you. I havet to say YES!
SCOTT: I dont know what its like for when you were born but I have to stik with NO!
ALISON: Whats with the dress? Back to what Im saying. You made it to much your own. Sorry but I am going to havet to tern you down.
MATT: One werd, YES!
ADAM: Was that chinese? I have to say you are one of the best performers."

Is that hilarious or what? I think they should hire her, 5 judges???????

Who are you voting for?
Are you as glad as we are that Megan is gone?
Do you like the new judge?
Do you want to come up for a finale party?

School Bus

So I am having a homesick week. I just want to be back in SLC and be back in my crazy very involved routine. I miss my friends and my family and I miss my kids' friends. I get this way sometimes even though I am really enjoying Rexburg. But sometimes I just want to turn back time and go be back in "my" element. Well today I realized an aspect of my life that I also really miss. Here goes. Here in Rexburg, my kids take the school bus and I LOVE IT!!!!! Talk about 20 - 30 extra minutes each day and not having to go out when it is -20 degrees. I love it. I love watching Annie skip to the bus stop and the sweet wave from the bus driver as she takes over responsibility of my darling girl. I love watching all the kids gather in the morning and wait for the school day to begin. BUT - as I was just at the school putting on a party for Annie's class and began to walk out with the kids as they were getting on their buses, I realized that some of my greatest socializing was when I was picking up my kids each day. First I always saw Marcy or Ellen and then I spoke with the moms of the girls that Emi was trying to set up play dates with and then as we drove home we saw the same kids walking and the same moms driving. It was kind of like all was well with the world as you saw everyone in their places each day. Then the biggest treat of all was that 5 minutes of uninterrupted time with my kids and the kids on our street where I could ask all the questions and get caught up with all the news of school, practically in all the grades. Being with my nieces and nephew each day, and then as I dropped them off seeing all the kids' moms and having a quick chat. I always loved it when they were outside and we could visit or at least greet each other. Today - among other things, that is what I miss the most.

Quiet Afternoons

So, I have reached a place in my life where I have all my afternoons to myself. Annie is in Kindergarten and so I have anywhere from 3-6 hours to myself. So you ask - What do I do with my time? I ask you this - what would you do? I read, then usually I fall asleep, I run, I sew and very rarely I clean. Today I went to a RS luncheon and had a great time with all my friends and neighbors. Mostly I love these afternoons and look forward to them but there are the occasional days where I feel a bit selfish, and lazy. In the delivery room one time I received the diagnosis, "failure to progress". Is this what is happening to me again? I need your help. Please help me come up with some fresh ideas for my springtime afternoons. Help me stay balanced and active. Service projects? Go to the temple? If you have a free afternoon everyday, what do you do????

Sincerely,
Fearful about wasting this stage of my life.

Winter's Residual

Winter's residual is the name of a poem that my dad wrote when I was in high school. It talked about the ugliness that is found under the snow when it melts and then how rains soon wash the mess away, etc. Well when moving you must get used to a different type of winter's residual. Here it is especially ugly. When all that snow finally melts you are left with remnants and evidences that while you were building igloos, snowmen, and snowmobiling on top of the snow an entire community of "Moles" were enjoying the warmth of your grass underneath the snow. There are tunnels dug up everywhere you look. Fortunately our neighbors told us that if you snowmobile excessively in your yard, you won't have as many. Well I invited all the neighbor kids over each and every chance I could to "ride" on my snow, and it worked, we only had tunnels and nests under our trampoline where there was no riding. It is icky. For fun the local kids go hunting for them. I made up a new rule for their game. If they find any in my yard, I do not want to know about it. I like living in bliss that we are mole free. So far so good. As far as I know we are the only yard in the area that hasn't had a single mole, mouse, or vole.

On a side note all the neighbors assure me that in 10 years of living among wheat fields they have never had one in the house. That makes me feel a little better. But just in case I am keeping the doors shut tight!

Don't let that picture fool you!

Thanks for all your nice comments about the picture. I really love it too. I am especially glad that we didn't have to switch heads or change much of anything. It is just how that moment was. What it doesn't show are the bags under my eyes, my "problem areas", me cursing Annie because she is so hyper and can't stop laughing. I am standing on a sprinkler pipe because I am sensitive about my height. Also what doesn't show are the Teton mountains just behind us. We just couldn't get them to be in focus and us too. After a debate I chose us. Anyway, I have always wanted a "nice" portrait of my family. But when it came time to hang it up I felt a bit - well "braggy". It just looks too nice. Too perfect. So just to assure you, we are a real life family and we fight and make messes and usually Annie's hair is really messy and Callie's is in a pony tail (always) and Rob stinks most of the time (JK ((sort of)) ). But we are happy in our chaos. So if you get happiness then the picture is serving its purpose. Whatever you get from looking at the picture just know that we are real, just getting by like everyone else.