Seattle Half

The Seattle Half Marathon that is. Some of you know that I have been training for this for a few months (some of you may not). Today was the auspicious day of the big event. I had been anticipating this day with a certain amount of excitement and dread. What if I couldn't finish? What if I was so pathetic I finished last? These top two photos where taken at the finish at Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center and as you can see from the photo on the left, I didn't finish last. In fact I did quite respectable for myself. My goal was to finish in two hours and thirty minutes. My actual time was 2:27:37:9! It was an amazing thing to participate in. There are over 14000 participants in all the different races. You can either walk or run the Half or walk or run the whole Marathon. The runners of the Half Marathon started from the Seattle Center at 7:30am. My friend Peg and I were somewhere in the middle of the pack (I think) when the horn sounded. It was kind of anti-climatic because we didn't move for a minute or two. It was exciting when we started off though. You run down 5th Avenue which is a major street in downtown Seattle until you come to the I-90 Express Lanes. At one point 5th Ave starts to rise and it was incredible to see just how many people were in front of us. You run on I-90 until just before it starts to cross Lake Washington. (The Marathoners actually run all the way across the Lake and back as part of their route.) You get off and start running on Lake Washington Boulevard which is right along the lake and home to amazing houses (not that you really notice them). I was still running with Peg which was pretty amazing considering how much taller she is than me. That all changed though when we were confronted with the first slight hill. Peg "loves hills" and I really didn't do much pre-training on them. That is where I started to fall behind her. Not that I minded. I really didn't think we would be together as long as we were. Just to digress for a moment to tell you about Peg, she was my elementary school auction co-chair two years ago. After a series of "escapades", we decided that we were a bit like Lucy & Ethel. It varied who was Lucy and who was Ethel (it depended on who had the hair-brained idea.) She is fun, full of life, caring, kind, and many other wonderful things AND she loves to play Scrabble! How can you not love a person who loves to play Scrabble! She is the one who when she found out that running a marathon was on my "list" said "Maybe you should try running a half-marathon first" and then said she would do one with me. That's the kind of friend she is. We even purchased matching tops when we picked up our packets before the race. The picture on the right is just after I finished the race (that's why my mouth is hanging open I guess). She was waiting there to give me a big hug!

Back to the race. Once you reach the end of Lake Washington Boulevard the course starts to climb. Which seems rather unfair because at this point you are somewhere between 5 to 8 miles into the race. At one point there is this long uphill stretch. I had to walk. It was just too tiring to run. Once I got to the top though I started running again and managed to run most of the rest of the way. You run through the Arboretum which is a beautiful natural area and then onto this road that is winds along the side of a hill. Then it's pretty much a downhill 3 mile jaunt from there. But right about that time I thought I wasn't going to make it because I could feel myself running out of gas and my feet hurt. Thank goodness for jelly bellies made from power drinks! They kind of tasted like aspirin to me but they got me through. Just when you think you have seen your last hill, they throw you a last one about 2/10s of a mile before the finish! I had to walk that one too. But again once I got to the top I was able to run the last bit into Memorial Stadium (adrenaline I think). You can see from the top picture that there are people along the side and sitting the stadium cheering on (as they are all along the course). I almost cried I was so excited! It is an amazing thing to think you did something like this especially at the age of 45! There was Peg to greet me and right behind her came Dennis. This last picture is one Dennis took at home. He took another one first which I will save but not publish. It's not particularly attractive but it really captures how I felt at that point--tired.

Not too tired to do it again though. Peg and I (and maybe Dennis this time) will be running the Whidbey Island half-marathon in April. This time I get to be Ethel because I promised Peg if she ran the Seattle with me that I would run the Whidbey with her. Lucy & Ethel all over again!

Do two half-marathons in the course of 6 months equal a full marathon?? I think so and I will get to cross another thing off my "list"!

Confessions of a Soccer Mom

The regular soccer season finished last weekend. The season lasts 8-9 weekends in the Fall. This year we got lucky and never has super bad, cold weather. We did have some rain but who can't live with that in Seattle!? Cooper's team, the Cougars (yes, a hard name to bear in a Husky household) are still pretty much playing at the "herd" stage of soccer, which is all the players on the field cluster around the ball. Once in awhile some one will break away from the herd with the ball and depending on how alert the goalie is will score a goal. This year you did see an occasional attempt at passing. Cooper loved playing goalie (as did most of the boys) and was alert most of the time. His team finished pretty well--although at this age they still don't "officially" keep score but you know every boy on both teams knows who won the game in the end.
Spencer had a new coach and alot of players were new this year. The new coach continued the great groundwork laid by the previous coach and the team continued to play as a team and are fun to watch. Spencer isn't the most agressive kid on the field but towards the end of the season did start to use his superior height (compared to almost all other kids his age) to his advantage. (I love the picture on the right because it looks like he is about ready to sit down.) He was generally the tallest kid on the field (but not necessarily the biggest) all season long. He's not much into sports but seems to enjoy soccer. His team is in the city tournament which starts after Thanksgiving and is double elimination. You want them to do well in the tournament but there is a secret part of you that wants it all to end well before Christmas!
Tucker loves soccer almost as much as he loves sleeping. His team got lucky and won two games this year. They actually have some pretty good raw talent on their team but it has never been harnessed to work together as a team. Being on the high school team really helped Tucker improve his game. The team scored about 10 goals all season long and Tucker scored 5 of them (and he played defense on the high school team so didn't score one goal all season long). He was the "Corner Kick" guy. Any time there was a corner kick no matter where he was on the field, he was the guy who kicked it. His team is also in the city tournament but we don't have to worry about even coming close to Christmas. If they win even one game it will be a miracle.
So you might wonder what are my "confessions"? I have to admit that I don't totally understand the game. Like when are they "offsides" and why? It seems to me that being in front of the defenders is a good thing but apparently not always.
I have a hard time just sitting and watching--my feet have been known to involuntarily kick the ball. Sometimes I spend more time socializing with the grown-ups than watching the game.
I'm secretly glad when the season is over because the longer it goes, the colder it gets. That's why it doesn't make me so sad that Tucker's team won't do so well in the city tournament. Spencer's team however gives me cause for concern.
I think the trophies they give to the kids at end of the season are stupid--trophies are so meaningless now because everyone gets them regardless of a winning or losing season. (I'm sure the trophy making business loves it though.) One of my favorite lines from "The Incredibles" is "I'm going to make it so that everyone is special because when everyone is special then no is." (something like that). Luckily the trophy thing goes away as the kids get older and Cooper is the only one still getting trophies.
I like being the "bad mom" who brings twinkies, ding dongs or other bad stuff as snacks for after the game. Everyone wants to be so PC with the healthy snacks that I love going against the grain. Although I do have to admit that I tried to buy healthy stuff for Cooper's team this year.
I completely forgot the weekend I had snacks for Spencer's soccer team. When the game was over I just left the field and went to the car before the boys walked off. Luckily there was another boy missing that week so all the boys thought it was his mom who forgot. (I told Spencer he could them at practice the next week that it was me who was the lame mom.)
Soccer is a fun sport to watch and a great sport to play for most kids regardless of their athletic ability. It is fun to watch my boys play.
This year we stepped into a new arena--basketball for the first time. Cooper is trying it this year. It is the most hilarious thing to watch! The nice thing? The games are indoors and only last about 30 minutes. Gotta love that. I will post some pictures later on.

Captain Jack and a Play on Words

As requested Aunt C, here are the pictures from Halloween. As you can see, Cooper took on a little Jack Sparrow persona. Getting him to agree to the "eye liner" (washable Crayola marker) was quite a task but I think it really completes the outfit. The fencing sword was some promotional thing that Dennis got from work. (How it goes with AAA is a mystery at this point) The shirt is one of Dennis' and the jacket is one of mine with 3/4 length sleeves. The hat with attached hair is of course what makes the whole ensemble work. I suppose he could be Captain Hook (if we had a hook) but that's a different generation and I don't recall that he wore eyeliner, but I could be mistaken there. (I may not have been paying close attention to a detail like that as a kid.) He and I were the only ones to go trick-or-treating together as both Tucker and Spencer wanted to go with friends. I guess that is what happens when you start getting teens & pre-teens. We only went down the street two blocks on both sides and up one block past the house. That is as much as he wanted to do. Which is certainly fine by me as it was plenty of candy. But had I lived in a neighborhood this size I would have been out till that pillow case was full! (Pillowcases being the preferred trick-or-treat bag of children all ages). We did take a little neighbor boy with us who had a skeleton costume with a rubber skeleton head. He was quite comical as he went up and down the steps to the houses. I am not quite sure he could see all that well. After a while I had to carry his bag. (He had been out before we started so his was half full when we began). I was sure he was going to take a tumble down one of the longer sets of stairs, skewer himself on the fencing sword and well...But, luckily we got him home in one piece with his bag full (not a pillowcase--he's not yet wise in the ways of maximizing candy capacity). I will let you figure out the costumes of the other two boys for yourselves. Both boys came up with the ideas themselves--although Spencer may have gotten the suggestion from a girl at school. Spencer went trick-or-treating with three girls from his school. His only complaint was his mask got sweaty. I'm not exactly sure how full his pillowcase was when he got home because he squirreled it away into his room immediately. He is very protective of his candy hoard. He did not wear his costume to school (no masks allowed) but he did have fun wearing it out in the neighborhood. Although the net result of the plastic mask for this pubescent boy (not pre-pubesecent because his puberty is in full swing) was a serious rash around the nose. His skin is SO sensitive. Tucker's costume inspiration came while he and I were at JoAnn Fabrics looking for foam for a shark head (ala SNLs land shark) he was imagining he could construct. Since the foam was a bit spendy and I wasn't exactly sure on how he was planning to construct the shark head, he came up with this idea. I think it speaks for itself. The ego of a teenaged boy (at least mine) knows no bounds. He did say it garnered extra candy when it was explained, but I think that was probably only when the person handing out the candy was a guy. He came home sans candy because he gave it all to one of his friends he was out with. I guess he figured he could mooch off his brothers or eat the mounds of candy that I purchased forgetting that we never really get that many trick-or-treaters. That would be 4 according to Dennis who was manning the door while Cooper and I were out. He could have given each kid a full bag of bite-sized candy and still had one left over. As it is the giant tupperware bowl is still half-full of candy. Ah don't you just love Halloween!

Rated PG

What!? Two posts in two days. (I had to get at least two in October--and yes, there will be Halloween pictures but they may not be posted officially until November). Rated PG for those squeamish or PETA among us, more of the Triumphant Hunter (in hand-knitted chapeau). Dennis took this with our old camera and I had to post it. I don't know whether it was before or after the afternoon nap. I think before as he always looks a bit droopy eyed after napping (see photo in previous post). The dogs name is Sandy and she is a go-getter! Pretty nice as dogs go and I really am NOT a dog lover. (Live in Seattle awhile and you'll start to hate them too--or at least their owners, but I digress).

You may have wondered in my previous post "But where is Miss Kim?" Never one to miss out on trampoline or hay jumping she was sadly laid up from a previous encounter with said hay. (The big black thing next to the sofa is her foot brace). She lounged about gracefully indoors as you can see in this photo. She was busy crafting a masterpiece with crayons and markers which is sure to be published by her orthodontists and net her $50 from said orthodontists. It was appropriately Halloween themed with a ghost, pumpkin & bat, all sporting braces. The "slogan" was "Don't go around with scary teeth! Get braces to make them neat. (My contribution--all those years in advertising....) Sure to be the winning entry for the month of October. This can be said unequivicably after veiwing a previous year's calendar and seeing the sad lack of talent when compared to Miss Kim. (I also noticed that she officially no longer looks like a little girl. She is definitely a young woman and much more grown up looking. It happens.)

I spoke about Rachel's new toy but did not post a picture of the kids mugging for the camera. I didn't notice the back lighting coming in which of course made the kids dark in the picture. This is not a great picture because I really had to lighten it to get the kids faces. But you see that the biggest hams are the littlest and the biggest kids. Spencer and Leah could hardly get any face time with the rest of the camera hogs--especially the two youngest. You can see that they were having alot of fun with the computer.

You'll note that I am once again posting late at night--well late for me. An unusual occurance for me as during the week I generally like to be in bed by 9 or 9:30 (because 5:30 comes so darn early). Tucker has a late start at school tomorrow so I thought I would be "generous" and give him the day off from seminary. He is way too quick to point out to anyone who gives him a hard time (because he's generally always there) that if it was up to him he'd still be in bed. Makes me glad that God has blessed me with the ability to somehow get up every morning to get him there. There's no other way it would ever happen because I am SO not a morning person. Never have been in my whole life until now. Amazing. Honestly though, I am glad to have a morning to sleep in too. Who knew that 7:15 was "sleeping in"?? Not me before now.

At Long Last

Perhaps you have been wondering if I was ever going to update this space. I can't believe that I last posted in September and October is over in two days. I guess I was waiting to have some photos to share. This is from our trip to eastern Washington this past weekend for the annual pheasant scare. (I guess I shouldn't make fun, it's been a long time since they came home empty handed). This is in Aleta's "barn". The kids spent a little time jumping in the hay--not much since the trampoline was more fun. That's Leah and James in the picture with Spencer & Cooper. James & Cooper were fast friends that day. James remarked when we first arrived "He (meaning Cooper) is being a very nice boy to me" It was too funny. As promised I took the photo of Rachel with her new blonde locks which are actually more blonde highlights than a shocking full head of blonde hair. I think it looks quite nice myself. She might post a picture on her blog as she has plenty of her own to choose from. She got a very nice Mac laptop for graduation that has a built in video lense and software that allows her to take photos and manipulate them in a lot of different ways. But just in case she doesn't here's a sneak peak. Lovely girl. All the kids spent a bit of time with her and the laptop taking funny pictures. Maybe she will figure out how to post the really funny one of Cooper with the little tiny face on a big round head (bigger than his usual head) with a small chin.
This is the picture I like to call "Return of the Triumphant Hunter". While we spent the day at Aleta's, Tucker and Dennis spent the day out pheasant hunting with Dennis' good friend Bill. This is actually Tucker's 2nd trip out with them but this year for all his traipsing around all day he actually came home with a pheasant. Well actually I guess he only traipsed around half the day. Apparently the 2nd half of the day he spent sleeping in the truck and left the traipsing to the middle-aged men. Go figure, a perfectly healthy teenaged boy is outdone by two middle-aged guys. But then, Tucker can easily be talk himself out of doing pretty much anything if sleeping is the alternative! On Sunday he got to practice driving in Bill's little truck and decided that driving a stick shift was alot harder than he thought. Bill was even brave enough to let him stop on a hill. (I frequently have to apply the dashboard break when I ride with him to seminary in the morning.) But then Bill has already successfully raised a teenaged boy himself (Brian his son is 24--I think) so I guess he has probably already seen it all.

This last picture I had to share because I think it is so beautiful. This is the quilt that Aleta has been making for Dennis & I. She has made quilts for all of her sisters and I think mine is the last in a line of amazingly beautiful quilts. She and I picked out the fabric two years ago. She used some that we picked out and some that she had on hand (you never really know how they are going to go together until you start peicing them--at least that is what she says). You can't see the details of some of the fabric but you can see the incredible work she does. I can hardly wait to see the finished product. I can't even begin to imagine how she finds time in her life to do this. But then I am constantly amazed at what talented, smart, energetic, committed, generous, loving, kind, funny and plain old amazing sisters I have--every one of them! Life has blessed me in so many ways and one of the biggest ways is my family.

(Oh and in case anybody was wondering, Spencer is now officially 1/2 an inch taller than me! And he is quite proud of that.)

Then and...Well Just Then

I thought about doing another then and now but since I am the one who takes most of the photos and I am not inclined to do a self-portrait (ala Spencer) there aren't any current photos of me. The mandatory school yearbook photo that is taken at work doesn't count either. Although last year's wasn't too bad really. I dug this up because the ASB leader at school requested a middle school picture from the staff for some contest she is planning for the kids. I'm not positive that this is really a middle school picture because I can't remember which grade I was actually in when this picture was taken. Could be anywhere from 4th to 6th. The only other choice I had was an 8th grade photo and that is a face that is best not revisited. So this is the one I turned in. I guess you can see now where Tucker gets the flippy ends on his long hair. Kind of makes me wonder how he would look with a cute little white barrette in his hair. It also really shows how much Spencer really does look like me. Cooper too. I'm not sure I remember much about being that age. Perhaps when I am old and slipping into dementia it will all come back to me.

Spencer Turns 12!

I don't know what you would call these. Blackmail? Payback?? Today is an auspicious day. Yes, we all know what it means nationally, but more importantly to us, it is Spencer's birthday. These pictures are evidence of what he did this summer when I was at work. My camera was just lying there (in it's case) begging some young, pre-teen to take self-portraits. I guess things get a little dull when mom is not around. There were actually about 6-8 pictures--even after I told him to stop taking pictures of himself. What did Spencer want for his birthday?? He has spent many hours contemplating this very issue, crafting and re-crafting birthday lists which he places on the refrigerator for all to see. He has been dying to have a cell phone. For what reason we are not clear. Chances of that happening are...well, use whatever trite saying that comes to mind about never. (Hence the re-crafting.) He loves movies so there is always a variety of those on his list as well as gift cards. Top of the list though (with cell phone out) was a digital camera which is what we got him. Future as a photographer? As long as he leaves these pictures out of any portfolio maybe he has a future. Some amazing things about him in recent months:

• His voice sounds like he is getting a cold--no confusing him with me on the phone any more
• His feet are nearly as big as his dad's (he's wearing Tucker's soccer shoes from this past spring)
• He is growing what Cooper likes to call "armpit beards"
• He is within about an inch of being taller than me
• He is the tallest boy on his soccer team

In other words he's growing up!