Beaming!

This was the scene today at Zach's Cross Country State Championship meet. The weather started out with us but quickly turned to rain showers. We had it pretty good though because Zach ran with the Super Champs division who got to go pretty early in the day. This group was the top 6 racers from each school. He earned it too. I have never seen him run like he did today. It was amazing how much he has improved even over this season. He paced himself with the fastest kid on his team for the first km or so. Then he dropped behind a bit but continued to push himself. When he got to the final stretch he opened it up and picked kids off one at a time as he sprinted to the finish line. He beat his previous P/R by 20 seconds, which is HUGE! I was so happy to get to be there and greet him down on the track as he crossed the finish line. He was a Rock Star!

Some days I am in awe of the life I have with my family around me. I am one very lucky girl. I need to remember this when the rest of my life is zooming out of control.

Way to go Zach!

Beaver Nation (less one)

It's Game Day here in Cornvally. The Beavs are going for their 6th consecutive win, a feat unheard of since before 1939 so as you can imagine, football here in Beaver Nation is a very big deal. Annie and I are ready with our jerseys on, our fight song memorized and our OOOO SSSSS UUU hand gestures perfected. Yes, everywhere you go in town today is a sea of black and orange. Everyone is so excited. United we stand with the goal of 6-0! Well, everyone except my husband. WTF? First off, how can you not be excited about the fact that the Beavers are finally on a winning streak. We've waited forever for this. Second, um...are you not a male? Isn't football more of a boy sport anyway?

I asked him why he didn't want to go party with the family tonight to watch the game and have dinner and he gave me this excuse..".I don't want to be out there that late."  OK, what are you 90? Seriously, the game doesn't start until 7:30pm so I'll give you that it's going to be a late one, but come on, it's Saturday night. Granted, our customary Saturday night involves being asleep by 9:30 but just once we could live it up. Somehow though this excuse doesn't really hold water for me. So I waited a bit and then tried again.

"Why don't you want to go watch the game tonight?" I asked again. This time I got a different excuse. "Because I'm not really a football kind of guy, I'm just not that into it."  Um...ok, yeah, that's why there is a suitcase full of 1970s NFL football cards in the top of his closet, complete in those see through collector sleeves that he has carted around to every house we've ever lived in. Yeah..not a football guy.

So now I'm trying to decide if I want to go watch the game with the fam all by myself and leave him to wallow in his detest for football until he trods off to bed at 9:00pm here all alone or if I should suck it up, stay here and just lock myself in the spare room to watch it.

Mom's house has chex mix though....... I think I'll probably be leaving the football hater here.  I may not love football, but I love the Beavers and I love Chex Mix.

OOOOOO SSSSSSS UUUUU, Fight, Fight, Fight!
Go Beavs!

Got Speed?

Today was the Great Pumpkin Run that I've been so excited for. It was really well attended and the rain held off for the race so that was fantastic.

So was the performance of this crew:

In that group of folks you have a 10k first place in ages 13 and under, a 5k 2nd place in  Men's 40-49 (8th place over all), two 4th place age groupers (Stafford 10K and Me 5k) and an incredible Mom/Daughter racing team who finished the entire 5k together with no tears. I'm inspired and so thankful to be part of this clan.

I'm pretty sure my new P/R is a direct result of this:

Ignore my hairy arm which shows up much worse now that my beautiful summer tan has already faded away. That little watch is so awesome!  I'm really excited I had it to distract me considering my ipod died instantly even though I charged it all day yesterday. Damn gadgets!

After the race we all needed some refueling so we headed over to Nutcakes in Philomath.

Yep, that was one fantastic day! Thanks family for the inspiration and fun! I look forward to our next family adventure.

Looking Up!

My last few posts have been a slight invitation to my pity party.  I'm please to say that the party is over. I think I've managed to make it out of the dark and back into the light with the help of my family, Annabelle, the best dog ever, my friends and many miles on the roads and trails around town.

Having battled anxiety issues the majority of my adult life, it is always a pleasure to exit an exceptionally stressful stage. I hope that this means that I'm starting to get the hang of this job again. It's also super helpful that both of the mom's are through their surgeries. It's an awful feeling to not be able to help.

I'm really excited because tomorrow is the last school day this week. Friday is an unpaid cut day and I'm so excited. I'm really ready for a long weekend.

The best part? I just got an e-mail that this little baby is now available.

It's the Garmin Forerunner 10 I've been waiting months to be released. Basically it's a GPS watch for Dummies. I'll take that label and one watch please. No bells and whistles, just time, distance, calories, pace. It was a bonus for me to learn I can do intervals on it. Win-Win.

If I survive this week I'm headed straight for one of these babies tomorrow! I can hardly wait to test it out in the Great Pumpkin Run!

Lost

It has been an insane few weeks. Turns out changing grades, halls and schedules is much bigger of a deal than I thought possible. I'm 5 weeks in and still trying to find my footing. After 8 years as a teacher, it's really hard to admit I feel like it's my first year again. Luckily I'm on a great team with really supportive co-workers. It's just so bizarre to feel completely out of my element. Plus, 5th graders can actually be kind of jerks. Sorry, that sounds insensitive, but I'm just in a little shell shock.

The rest of life is going really well. Sean and I have been having a blast with Annabelle. She is such a great dog. We couldn't be happier.

We've even run a few races in preparation for the big Rock and Roll Vegas Half in just over 2 months. I actually took first place in my age group in the Timber Ridge 4 miler last weekend. Here's the after shot of me and my former teaching partner Laura, who I miss like crazy.

Next week is one of my absolute favorite races "The Great Pumpkin Run." It's the 22nd annual and I've done it for about the past 12 years or so. I used to walk it, but I've run the past several years. I hope to keep running for many, many years to come.

Honestly, truth be told, running, family and friends are what is keeping me sane in this time of stressful transition. You all know how much I hate change. This overload is about to send me over the edge. Thank goodness for running shoes.