a life beyond running shoes.

surgery is in 4 days...... dear huebert, thank you for sharing life with us. we are about to give to you to someone else. it has been a pleasure having you. we hope you love your new home. we are rather fond of your new placement. i am sure he will take good care of you, but if he doesn't.... it is not our call anymore. in fact i believe you will be better appreciated in your new home. it is not that we didn't love you, we just took you for granted. i don't think he will. i think you will be loved and cherished..... have a good life, heubert. we hope you grow and flourish, but mostly, we are praying that you will help our friend. make him strong, make him healthy, make him better. see ya' round..... peace out!

we also hit the staten island children's museum. my kids LOVE this place. we went on our way out of town while daddy worked at a local coffee shop. i mean, dress up like a firefighter, a construction worker, a talk radio dj, and life size connect four..... how much fun can one possibly have! i'm just glad i got good pics!

for less than 48 hours..... but worth every minute! we got to go tubing down an icy hill. (little bit holding onto daddy for dear life. he ended up loving it but would not go by himself) and ice skating on a pond no less!!! (sweet pea didn't love having blades attached to her snow boots....) (peanut gave it his best....but those ankles just wouldn't stay straight) peanut went down that hill at least 4 times. the first time with daddy but every time after that, he flew solo! thank you, pennsylvania. it was nice to visit you while the kids were off of school. we hope to see you again sometime when we can stay longer.

looks like not spending money every six weeks to have your roots done. of course, in a better economic climate this would not be such a big deal..... but alas, we are not in a better economic climate .... and therefore, i am no longer blond.

run like a mother: how to get moving -- and not lose your family, job, or sanity. by dimity mcdowell and sarah bowen shea. i have to admit, i wanted more from this book, not sure what.... it was cute. a bit funny. mostly anecdotal....with a few running tips thrown in. and more than a few endorsements for running skirts. i might be convince to get one this summer. i did laugh. for that i am thankful to have spent 26 (.2) chapters with these authors. but my overall impression was that this would have been a very good article in runner's world. i think the pitch to make it a full 200 page book made the information too thin..... but that could be because i am a runner and some of the information was not new...... but if i was just starting out as a runner.... i think this might have been perfect for me...but that sounds really elitist of me..... there was some good stuff in there....helpful, funny, relevant. i did appreciate many of the quotes from other mothers and also the reality th...

so i made my own laundry soap. my husband made his own beer. his is more fun....tastes better.....and easier to photograph. my idea came from my mother-in-law. tried my own.... a bit skeptical of my success. (i only have about 5 gallons of it to figure out if it worked) got the recipe here . he got a gift-certificate from my dad. there is actually a place locally that sells all the stuff you need. first batch was started just after new years.... and we have been enjoying the spoils for about a week. i can honestly say..... not bad! second batch is just waiting to be bottled.... guess we got some drinking to do to empty out those bottles!!!

this is a double post..... my latest book club read: peace like a river by lief enger an interesting read. of which i will be sad to miss the discussion. i will not be attending because my hubbie is donating a kidney that same week. a friend in our church was in need.... we both got tested. we were both a match..... he is the donor. very exciting to see how we get to serve our friend this way. so i enjoyed the book. it had western elements.... think zane gray, butch cassidy, minnesota and north dakota plains. lots of biblical references. an eleven year old narrator that is suspect if not unreliable and yet self-effacing so almost totally reliable. throw in some magic realism (or you could call them miracles), some adventure, and family dynamics and you have this novel. which was an easy read, page turning, and well-written. again, i will miss the group discussion.... i am sure someone in our group did not like it!! kidney: our friend has been in poor health for the past year....

dear sole sister, thank you for joining me on my journey in becoming a runner. the journey of discovering how to do something for myself..... something that challenges me..... frees me..... you were my pavement pounding partner during my discovery that i am a runner; that it really is something i do. thank you for being a wonderful friend.... counselor.... listener..... encourager..... pacer..... leader.... supporter..... training partner...... confidante..... friend. we met and i was not yet a fully actualized mom..... prego and therefore a mom, but not fully actualized...... in six and a half years, you have traversed some of my most major milestones ....... 3 babies, 4 apartments, parents getting married, parent dying, grief, silly anecdotes, identity crisis, depression, contentment, relief, humor...... and then there are the running milestones....... 3 half marathons, 1 full marathon, 15k, 5 milers, a personal best mile time.......and many, many, many, many loops around the par...