Snow Day

Blog neglect is a crime, and we have been very guilty.  As many of you may have seen, the Midwest got hit with a big snow storm Saturday and Sunday.  We got up this morning and braved the snowy roads to go to church.  We got there 20 minutes late, but it didn't matter because they hadn't started yet.  We delayed starting our meeting by a half hour because not everyone participating in the Christmas program had arrived yet.  The program was beautiful, but sparsely attended.  The Bishopric elected to cancel the rest of our meeting to allow everyone to get home (the wind was suppose to pick up in the afternoon).  We would have gotten home early, but Bro. Kurabayashi ran his mini-van into a pile of snow in the parking lot.  We attempted for about an hour to get his car out but to no avail.  Fortunately, a snow plower saw our struggles and rescued the van.  When we got home, I had this urge to take Jack outside for his first real romp in the snow.  As luck would have it, we just purchased him a new snow suit last weekend  and our friends, the Petersons, let us borrow some snow boots and a perfectly sized sled.  



After bundling up, we headed out into the winter wonderland.  During our adventure, there were moments of sheer joy...



mixed with moments of sheer terror.




Jack made his first snow angel.



Everyone has a wonderful time.

I did it

More precisely, WE did it. I thought I was going to have to run 18 miles by myself on Saturday because my usual running partner was out of town and everyone else has already run their race and were, for some unknown reason, unwilling to run 18 miles with me for the fun of it. But my friend Jan, who has been contemplating joining me for the marathon, ran the entire 18 miles with me. I think both of us were a little unsure about whether we could do it, me with my foot problems and her with her knee problems, but we ran it like champs. After a week of really depressing weather and really difficult mid-week runs, Saturday was like a gift from heaven-- sunshine, temps in the high 40s-low 50s, amazing fall colors still hanging around, no pain in my foot or knee and fun conversation. Our pace was far from race pace, but it was respectable. I'm finally learning that I really do need to slow down on the long runs and just finish. Thanks, Jan! And about that marathon.....DO IT! I haven't exactly asked my in-laws yet (are you reading this?) but I'm pretty certain that one more person would be welcome at their house. I'll kick Chad out of his own childhood home if that is what it takes to make you come to this race. Sorry, Chad, but we are talking priorities here. Jan, we can rock it all the way to the finish line. Between our conversations about global warming, child-rearing and home decorating those 4 hours will fly by! Please leave your friendly encouragement to Jan below--even if you don't know her.

Baby we were born to run

As an aside (or more of a "front" since it is the start of this post), if you know the lyrics to the full "born to run" sentence in the Bruce Springsteen song by the same name you might chuckle. By using this as a title for my post I am not saying anything about the virtue of the lovely ladies I ran this race with, or myself for that matter.

Okay. Let's get to the point. I ran a race. A really hard race. But I loved it and I want to do it again....in a while.

Saturday the 27th of October was the Mackinac Island Great Turtle Half Marathon Trail Run. That is probably not the official title, but it covers the basics--location, distance, type of terrain. For those of you unfamiliar with Mackinac (pronounced and sometimes spelled Mackinaw)Island, here are a few facts:

The island is about 3.8 square miles and is part of the great peninsula we call Michigan (if you have a spare moment, look up the Michigan state motto--it's a good laugh).

The island sits in Lake Huron--basically between Michigan's upper and lower peninsula.

The island was home to a Native American settlement until European exploration in the 17th century. The Native Americans dubbed the island Mackinac (meaning turtle) because of the shape of the island.

• There are virtually no motorized vehicles on the island. People get around on horses and bikes.



• Because you can only get to the island by ferry, ferry companies can charge whatever they want to get you to the island---and they do. And we paid it. And we'd pay it again.



• There are a little over 500 residents. I can't find any exact numbers, but most of them leave for the winter when the island essentially shuts down. In fact, the weekend of the race is the last weekend that the island is open to tourists.



• More than 80% of the island is preserved as Mackinac State Park.



• The Grand Hotel, where most of the movie "Somewhere In Time" was filmed, is the most famous hotel on the island. The Hotel purports to have the longest front porch in the world (660 feet). If you can't afford the $300-$500 per night rate, you can pay just to get on the grounds.



• This island is breathtakingly beautiful (I didn't get that from Wikepedia, those are my own words).

I have been training with 4-5 women from the ward/neighborhood for many a month now. Though the January 1 marathon is my ultimate goal, this half marathon was my first objective when I started running. After my 15 mile run the Saturday before, I started to have some foot pain. It got really intense the week before the race and I was very, very worried. I tried to take it easy, but that darn foot kept hurting. I saw my doctor and he wasn't too worried about, but he told me that if I ran the race I may not be able to run the 17 miles I need to run the Saturday after the race. Long story short, after many, many prayers and many, many doses of ibuprofen, my foot did not hurt on the morning of the race.

We arrived the night before the race and stayed in Mackinac City (a city right by the ferry docks, but not on the island itself). We awoke on Saturday morning to an overcast, dreary, windy, drizzly day. I told Chad that he shouldn't take the ferry over with me--no reason for him and Jack to sit around in the rain and cold for hours before the race and hours while I was running---so I went over with my friends Rachel, Kiersten and Jan.

I had a mild case of pre-race jitters, but it wasn't too bad. After a long debate about whether to wear shorts or pants (I opted for shorts, a short sleeve shirt and a jacket and it was the right choice), we headed to the crowded starting line. Even though the sky was gray and everyone was shivering, the atmosphere was great. It was a challenge to find a comfortable spot at the beginning of the race, but after a few miles the runners thinned out and the race was in full swing. The first few miles were along a scenic road, right next to the Lake. It was a wind tunnel, but again, it was breathtaking. After we left the road and started on the trails, we got our first taste of the hills that would make this race so challenging. I'd heard from a friend that this course was "kind of hilly." I should have realized that this description, from a woman who runs 50 mile races, might differ from the description a sane person would give of this course! The four of us ran together for 2-3 miles and then Jan and Kiersten took off. Rachel and I stayed together, chatting with some other runners, for another 2-3 miles. I decided to go ahead and push myself a little more. I used all kinds of tricks--like telling myself that I couldn't turn on my music until half way through the race--as motivation. The faded autumn colors on the trees, the mansions of the rich and famous (including the governor), and the views were what kept me going. After winding our way up, up and up, the course returned to the same scenic road where we began. Once again the wind was brutal. By now, I was barely hanging on. I had told myself that 2:15 was my goal, but in my heart I knew that I should be able to do it within 2 hours. I should have been more reasonable considering how incredibly hilly the course was, but I really wanted to make that goal. I started getting a few sharp pains and all I wanted to do was stop, but I kept going. I was running with a guy I had met who was from a city in Michigan called Zealand. I told him I was going to run ahead to meet my goal, but then he kept passing me because I was running on empty. Then I'd push it again and pass him up. We were laughing at each other (he was doing most of the laughing--at me). It was a great feeling to see Chad and Jack at the finish line. I knew I'd barely made it under 2 hours, so I was ecstatic.

We all killed it! I'm so proud of everyone, myself included. It was a really, really difficult race, but our pace would have been impressive (to ourselves) on flat terrain.

Here are the official results:

Jan Parker 1:54:12 (8:44 pace)

Kiersten Lortz 1:57:46 (9:00 pace)

Yours truly 1:59:03 (9:06 pace)

Rachel Opdahl 2:01:53 (9:19 pace)

After the race, Jan and I took an ICE COLD shower. I'd paid $10 to rent a locker and enjoy a hot shower after the race, but as luck would have it the hot water was out in the entire resort. Better luck awaited us as the clouds finally cleared and we were able to enjoy the island. We had heard that kids could trick-or-treat at the resort that hosted the race, so we had Jack's costume, but we were too hungry to stick around. We walked downtown with Jan and her family and had a great meal. Then Jan informed us that there was trick-or-treating on Main Street. The stores were giving out toys, fudge, and more candy than any human child could ever consume. It was a great way to spend the rest of the afternoon. Eventually we headed back to the mainland on the ferry. We relaxed in the hotel pool and hot tub and ordered gourmet pizza for dinner. It was a great way to end the day.





Since the race my foot has still been bothering me. I took 6 days off after the race and only ran 9 miles, instead of 17, this past Saturday. Since then I'm feeling better. I haven't been nervous about running for a while, but I'm really worried about my 18-miler this Saturday. Wish me luck!

This was all Chad's doing.

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!I've had such a good influence on my husband. Enjoy.

Birthday bash

After a quiet dinner at home on Jack's "real" birthday (Monday), we had a big bash with friends on Thursday. For a relatively small party, it was a tremendous amount of work--and my friends did most of it. A few months ago I told the amazing ladies I hang out with that I wanted to have a Halloween party for Jack at the church and provide dinner. They insisted on bringing food and helping in every other possible way. I was throwing the party, so I didn't want to impose on them, but when I say they insisted I mean they INSISTED.

I had ever intention to be ready for the party hours early. As seems to happen all too often, things didn't go according to plan. The trip to Costco for the cake took longer than expected because I wrote down the wrong date on the order form for the cake. Thankfully, they were kind enough to make one for me, but I had to wait. Then there was a "crisis" with one of my cases at work and I was on the phone for over an hour. By the time Chad came home at about 3:00 and the party was set to start at 5:30 I was in full crisis mode. My friend Kelli swooped in to save me and we got things together.

We had about 8 families and some friends from the singles ward come to the celebration. The kids, and a few brave adults, came in costume. Thanks to the delicious soup provided by the gals, we had a great dinner. Next we had some pumpkin carving. The prize goes to our friend Joel who chose the most difficult pattern from the pattern book (Dracula) and executed it beautifully. While the parents finished carving, the older kids played a pumpkin bean bag toss (thanks to Jan for making the bean bags!), pin the nose on the Jack-o-lantern (thanks Kelli!), and had fun running around the church like wind-up toys.

Jack didn't disappoint in his attack on the cake. We gave him a HUGE piece of cake with a huge purple frosting spider. He played with it tentatively for a minute, picking off a few little decorative spots, but then he really got to it. Purple frosting in the hair, putting on a show for the kids sitting around him by laughing and waving his arms, and generally stuffing his face. Thank goodness for that industrial church carpet--the icing game right out. Because his well-intentioned parents didn't think of it, Jack had nothing to wear after he covered himself in cake, so he opened his presents in his diaper. The other kids were so excited to help him---having those kids around him paying attention to him was more fun for Jack than the opening of the gifts.

True to form, my friends stayed to help us clean up. Thanks to everyone for makine it a memorable night for us. One of the greateest blessings of having Jack in our lives is the opportunity it has given us to get to know so many families better than we did when we were the busy couple with no kids. We love all of you! To those of you who couldn't be there, we really missed you. I am working on posting some video, so stay tuned.

Happy Birthday, baby!!

That was then






Wow. One year. Difficult to imagine life without our crazy little bundle. He has changed, and he has certainly changed us. Jack is all boy and all fun and all over the place. I choked up so many times today thinking about the personality I've seen emerge in 12 months. The moment I heard his cry was magical--it transformed me. To see another person who is literally a part of you learn to understand the world around him is gratifying beyond words. I love this little guy.

This is now

Just trust me on this one

I have a few words of advice:

If you are feeling sick for the third night in a row, you can't sleep, your husband is out of town, and you wake up sick at 2 a.m. to take some medicine DON'T BE TOUGH AND WAKE UP AT 6 A.M. AND TRY TO RUN YOUR 14 MILE TRAINING RUN ANYWAY. This may result in 1) a super slow running time, 2) the loss of a running companion because no human being can run slow enough to stay with you, 3) a great amount of worry on the part of said running partner when, in your altered physical and mental state, you forget where you were supposed to meet, and 3) a feeling extreme crappiness and desire to give up marathon training all together.

I told Chad about this "friend" of mine and he said: "I don't know whether to be impressed by [her] commitment or horrified by [her] stupidity." I won't tell her he said that. Rude!

This same friend thought she would have good luck on her run today because she opened the washing machine yesterday to that her i-pod shuffle had been through a cycle -- but it still worked! She later found her earphones in the dryer, also in working order. So sad her luck didn't last.

Oh, and one other thing. When you buy a Halloween costume for your child on e-bay, don't just look at the "star" rating of the seller, read the comments. For some inexplicable reason, people will say "A++++++++ Great seller!! My clothes really, really reeked like smoke, but great transaction!" I suppose it is the fear of the seller leaving negative comments for the buyer. But if you read the comments before you buy you won't be stuck with a Halloween costume for a 1 year old that smells like a bowling alley. Just trust me on this one.

An Ode To Jenny J

Happy Birthday Jenny! I may not have my act together enough to have made a gift, or even sent a card (bad me!), but I am thinking of Jenny today. My beloved friend Jenny is turning __ __ today. Some of you reading this blog don't know Jenny--your loss! How can I describe this woman? Perhaps this short list will help you understand what she means to me and how completely crappy it is that she now lives 6 hours away:

• She is so pretty that the first time I met her I was determined NOT to be her friend. Who wants to be compared to someone with flawless skin, perfectly straight and white teeth (think Julia Roberts), long, thick, shiny hair and legs that go on for miles? Did I mention that she also plays sports? Every guy's dream. Lucky Nathan!
  
• She gives back rubs. I'm not talking 5 minutes and then "my hands are too tired" back rubs like my well-intentioned husband's. I'm talking 30-60 minutes of bliss. I can't tell you how many times I'd had a stress-filled week at work, convinced I couldn't make it another day, and that back rub would save my life. After every back rub I would say with conviction, "That is the best thing that has ever happened to me." Chad would take offense, but he got use to it and it was true.
  
• She really, really knows how to be a friend. I've cried on Jenny's shoulder more times than I can count. She has listened, listened, and then listened some more. She was the first call I made every day on my way home from work. That 1 hour commute would fly by as we chatted (yes, I was one of THOSE people on the phone during rush hour). And there is more. She has shopped with me, talked me into buying great clothes when I resisted, painted my bedroom, cleaned my closets, organized my basement (twice!), organized my kitchen cabinets, painted my toenails, collected and delivered notes from friends EVERY DAY during the month of my 30th birthday (I still can't get over that one), run with me, cooked for me, grocery shopped for me, survived pregnancy with me....you get the picture.

Jenny, I hope this is a special day for you. You are a dedicated and loving mother, the kind of wife I aspire to be, and my best friend. Our phone calls may be less frequent, and I see you much, much less than I'd like to, but you are still my lifesaver. I'm glad you were born.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

All Alone in the World

I can barely remember the last time I posted something on this blog. Amy has shouldered most of the load keeping this thing up. I think the last time I blogged was during our trip to Thailand in the spring. I'm sitting in Panera Bread hanging out by myself. Jack and Amy are in Utah for her brother's wedding. I wish I could have gone with them, but I have just been crazy busy trying to finish up my dissertation proposal. I gave a complete version to my advisor on Friday. So hopefully he'll like it, and we'll be on our way out of Ann Arbor next summer. We are definitely going to miss this place, but 5 years is long enough. It's amazing how time has flown by and how much our lives have changed (defenitely for the better). Jack is growing up so fast. I looked at him the other day and realized that's he's not a little baby anymore. He's turning into a little boy. He's crawling all over the place and getting into everything. He's also got two more teeth. We lovingly refer to them as fangs.



One of my favorite things to do with him is throw the ball back and forth. I'm not sure he completely has the concept down yet as he throws it straight into the ground and it rolls to me. Of course he can't catch, so I have to roll the ball to him. So I guess I should call it rolling the ball not throwing it. This summer has been nice. Julie my sister just visited us last week. She really was a joy to have around. Unfortunately, I didn't have a ton of time to spend with her. What makes it more sad is that she is leaving on a mission in a few weeks, and I won't see her for 1 1/2 years. The highlight of her trip for me was our day at Greenfield Village. For those of you who don't know, it is a part of the Henry Ford museum and it is very cool. I don't believe there is anything else like it in the US. It's a collection of famous peoples homes that Henry Ford had moved to a park. Some of the homes include the Wright Brothers, Noah Webster, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison's workshop. It is really cool. If you're ever in the Detroit area it is a must see.

I don't know why I care so much, but I do

It isn't like I've ever thrown a huge Halloween party, or even been to a big fancy spooky bash, but for some reason Halloween is a big deal to me. Should I really be so concerned about celebrating a pagan holiday that centers on candy and terror? A holiday that has inspired many a gory movie and more than a few criminal acts? I have no answers. What I do know is that I'm already (in mid-August) trying to decide what costume to buy for Jack. He was only 11 days old for Halloween last year, so his costume was a cute little Frankenstein hat from a friend, but this year will be his first official Halloween in my book. Sure, I'll eat all his candy, he won't have a clue what is going on, and he'll probably be up too late and likely miserable by the time he can see the glow of a candle in a jack-o-lantern, but this still matters people. So help me make up my mind. Here are the pictures of my top contenders. Do not fall into the trap of judging the costume by the cuteness of the baby wearing it. I have done that for myself when shopping from catalogs with tragic results (that bra that looks so great on Heidi Klum somehow looks different on me). Cast your vote on the poll to the right. And I'm open to more suggestions, as always. As long as Jack looks adorable I'll be happy. I'll snap a few photos and start thinking about what to buy him for next year. If it matters to your vote, which I'm sure you will not cast willy-nilly but will ponder deeply, Jack is just now crawling at 10 months, so I don't think he'll be walking by Halloween. Also, he is the cutest baby on the planet with a personality as big as his very chunky thighs.

Summer celebrations--Boston installment

Long ago, on a blog entry far, far away, I promised more installments of the award-winning "summer celebrations" series. All five of you who read this blog have been patient long enough. I vow to catch you up on our exciting summer adventures. First up, our June trip to Boston.

Chad was invited to a conference at Harvard. I was, of course, more than happy to tag along. It was a great excuse to visit a vibrant city and, more importantly, to see my brother Nathan and his girlfriend Marie. Nathan and Marie were very accommodating hosts. I think we were the last guests in their apartment before they moved into their newly purchased place. They now own property in Cambridge, a five minute walk from the Harvard campus. I am officially jealous (and very, very happy for them, of course).

Here are the highlights of our trip:

1) Getting to see the Tufts University campus where Marie works. Who knew it was so beautiful?

2) Eating at the restaurant where Nathan works. Delicious! And thanks for the free meal.

3) Walking the ENTIRE Freedom Trail in one day! We saw just about every site in Boston and were completely exhausted by the end of the day.

4) Eating a huge meal in the Italian section of Boston (the North End?) where Jack left behind a trail of destruction and Chad almost left behind his credit card (you should have seen the very large Italian man running down the street after us yelling "Chad! Chad!" Good thing we had stopped to take a picture or we would have been long gone).



4) Celebrating Chad's first Father's Day in true New England style. We drove to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and enjoyed the perfect weather and quaint town. We continued the adventure by driving to Maine where we visited Marie's brother and Marie serenaded her Dad on the fiddle. She was so nervous, but it was sweet and her Dad loved it. We enjoyed an incredibly delicious seafood feast at a place called Chauncey Creek with Marie's family. Though there was a major downpour half way through the meal, we narrowly escaped getting drenched by claiming/stealing a table under a tent just in time. Our ideal day ended with a trip to the York Beach lighthouse, the most photographed of Maine's 60+ lighthouses. Chad got some beautiful shots with our jazzy new camera--I think if you click on the photo it will enlarge and you can take a closer look. Also, Jack had his first taste of ice cream (or anything with a detectable amount of sugar) at a little roadside ice cream shack in York. We created a monster! Our patient little boy shrieked and cried for more after one bite.















5) Exploring Cambridge. We found a little street fair where we tried out some very expensive hand-crafted hula hoops. Our skills were incredible. Chad's technique was....indescribable.

6) Marie and I taking a long run along the Charles River.

7) Going to the Aquarium with Nathan. The highlight was the 3-D IMAX movie. Nathan and I loved it. Jack....not so much. I'm sure it didn't help that he had no 3-D glasses so all he could see was fuzzy double images on a huge screen.

Thanks to Nathan and Marie for such a fantastic trip. We made some great memories. Now we need you to come and visit us again! Ann Arbor ain't no Boston, but we can hold our own. Come and see us (that goes for all of you readers out there).