Um...

Wow.  It's been two weeks already?  So, a lot happened between when I came in second at the speech contest and today.  I'll spend this week getting caught up so that I can then tell you all about the cool stuff that is currently happening.  I'm going to start from the newest.


Because it's my blog, that's why.


The Provo Halloween Half Marathon


Remember how I vowed that this was going to be my last long race for a very long time?

Well, I lied.

It wasn't intentional.  It wasn't like I said "I'm going to tell everyone that I'm not doing any more long races and then secretly go out and do them."  No, it really was going to be my last long race.

And then, my good buddy, M. signed up for the Provo Halloween Half Marathon.  Initially, I had no desire to do the race and I just laughed at her for having to get up early on Saturday mornings and do long runs.

But then, one Saturday, I said "hey, I'll come run with you."  We picked a nearby canyon that would mimic the (supposed--key point) route and parked our cars at the beginning and end points.  And I had such a marvelous time that I agreed to do it again the next week.

But...(and there's always a but), Wade was gone with the scouts (I know.  SHOCKER) and my babysitter got sick and so instead, I agreed to pick M. up at the end of the run and drive her back to her car so that she could still run the canyon and prepare herself for the race. (Because I'm a good friend.  That's why.)

The following weekend I met up with her again, and we ran the same course.  Again, it was marvelous and so at about 4 or 5 miles into the run, I threw out the idea that maybe, I would sign up for the race too.  I mean, I have already put in two long runs of 9 and 10 miles apiece.  13 miles?  Not a problem.

I was gone the next Saturday for the last run before the race.  Meanwhile, during the week, I was averaging a decent run on Monday mornings and then the rest of the week, I swam and biked.

Mildly put, I was very under-prepared for this race.  My only advantage was that at least I knew what 13 miles felt like and I knew that, even in the worst conditions, I could walk it and still finish.

Friday, the reality of the situation hit hard. I started freaking out that I would crash at mile 9 like I always do and then spend four miles berating myself for signing up for a half marathon with no training.  Also, I was slated to show off my awesome talents again at the Ward Talent Show (tomorrow's post).  There was some stress involved with getting ready for that--talents require time to master.

M. went off to pick up our packets and apparently, it was freakishly unbelievable.  Mind you, this was not the cheapest race I had ever done either. There is a level of expectation depending on how much money you spend. But the lines were up to two hours long and the number bibs were messed up and all in all, not a good experience for anyone.  Then M's husband dropped her off at her parents house for the night and drove home.  The plan was for me to drive down after displaying my talent and meeting her in Orem for the night.

About halfway from home, I realized that I had forgotten my coat.  It was going to be chilly in  the morning, and I toyed with the idea of just sucking it up, but I hate being cold.  So I ran into a Walmart and bought a new coat.  I was two minutes from M. when she called me.

"You're not going to believe this."
"What?"
"I left my running shoes in the car and my husband has all the kids asleep.  There's no way he's going to drive them back to me."

M. does bank work from home that has a deadline that has to be met every night.  Other than that stipulation, it's pretty laid back work.  However, the packet pick up process took so long, that M. was stressed about not reaching the deadline and in her panic didn't double check that she had everything.

If it had been a 5k we were doing, we would have just gone to Walmart to buy a new pair of shoes.  But being that this was 13 miles, we had no choice but to drive home and pick them up.  Luckily, M's parents were out of town and had left their luxury car at our disposal.

Two and a half hours later, we returned back to M's parents house and fell asleep just in time to be awoken four hours later.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why a race that had a 9 am start time required everyone to be at the bus loading station (the mall) by 6 am.  And then, we figured it out.  We lined up at 5:45 and got on a bus at 6:50.  We weren't even that close to the end of the line.  The end of the line went A QUARTER OF A MILE around the mall.

Up at the start, they had a "heating" tent, which was basically a fire code disaster waiting to happen.  We were all herded into these tents and then sat waiting.

And waiting.

The "start line party" we were guaranteed consisted of music softly playing in the background and sitting on cold grass, huddled around trying to heat a tent.

Finally, the first wave of runners headed out and we took our spot for the second wave.  The costumes that people wore were hilarious.  Of all the races I wish I would have had my camera, this one was it. The race course was gorgeous.  We ran from Aspen Grove, by Sundance, and then down Provo Canyon.  Once the race was underway, there weren't any problems on our end, though I hear pretty much every aspect of the race had terrible organization.  We finished at The Riverwoods in Provo.  The finish line was crowded, but we managed to get through and find our return ride to the car parked at the mall.

M. and I ran every step of the way, except for the water stops.  It's been my experience that the time you gain in running through the water stops never outweighs the disadvantages you have in trying to drink and run at the same time.  There was also a stretch of nearly .10 miles at about mile 12 that we walked because I had a side ache that wouldn't go away.  But other than those incidences, we ran it all. It had been billed as a downhill run, and the first four miles were definitely a steep descent.  But then, it sort of turned into rolling up and down hills and that made it pretty hard, considering the training runs I did do were all downhill in nature.

I'm happy with this effort.  I think I could have gone a little faster, but I probably would have overestimated my ability and burnt out at mile 9 like always and ended up coming in slower.  I finished this one a full 15 minutes faster than the Moonlight Half, and I'm happy about that.

So I'll say it now, and maybe it will stick.  Or maybe it  won't.  But I'm fairly confident in saying that THIS is my last long race for a long time.

2nd Place is the New 1st

I had my next round of speech contests this past weekend.  I had to go up against three other seasoned speakers.

And I came in second.

Which I'm very proud of.  All the Tall Tales were extraordinary and I'm happy I got another trophy to add to my collection.

The lady that won was incredible.  There was no way that I could have beat her with what I had.

But the best part of the whole thing was when my brother walked in.  He had wanted to come, but they were headed camping.  Then Wade got called into work all day Saturday, and some friends who were going to be coming couldn't because of some other obligations and I thought I'd just be talking to a room full of strangers.

Which I was okay with.  I hadn't really even expected anyone to come.  I didn't send out invitations.  I didn't make a big deal of it.  I'm pretty sure my other brother didn't even know about it.  It was just a 3 minute speech.  I figured if I made it to the final round, then I'd rally the troops.

About five minutes before it started, my brother came running in.  He had left the campsite and drove for who knows how long to listen to me speak for 3 minutes.  Ahhh....isn't that sweet?

So I took him for lunch and talked his ear off about all this other stuff.  And it was great, just the two of us. 

Sidenote:  If you would have told me 20 years ago that I would be enjoying one-on-one time with my older brother when I was an adult I would have laughed in your face and then slugged you for suggesting such a thing.

All in all, it was a great time with some great speeches. 

Some Simple Truths

*Walmart might be cheaper, but the new grocery store that is less than a half mile from my house is cleaner, nicer, and has better produce.  I am, thereby, refusing to step foot in Walmart any longer.  Unless, it's an emergency on a Sunday, because the new grocery store isn't open on Sundays.  But, I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to go to Walmart on a Sunday, so I'm not going to stress about it.  Goodbye crazy Walmart people!

*In case this isn't clear, I am LOVING not having to drive 8 miles for a loaf of bread/gallon of milk/can of whatever. 

*Martha Stewart has invaded my body.  There are a bazillion projects I want to do and each one breeds three or four of their own baby projects.  Eek. 

*I had the epiphany that I am just as capable of looking up how to do things as anyone else is.  Behold the beauty of the internet.  Thus, these projects will become a reality in time.

*Along with the aforementioned epiphany, I also came to realize that no one is going to do these projects for me, no matter how cute I am.  Or how much I beg. 

*God granted me new visiting teachers in anticipation of this epiphany.  Crafty, smart women who will help me do these projects and fill in the various holes my inability to do anything crafty is bound to make. 

*Wade is probably pretty scared right now.  Which is okay.  He should be.  Though he shouldn't be too stressed.  I'm only making the house, you know, pretty so one day, when our dream house comes along, we aren't left sitting and wishing we would have taken care of all that beforehand.

*Speaking of Wade, he is spending his day doing a service project.  I'm not entirely sure what they are doing, but when asked what he would be willing to do, he checked all boxes except for painting. He claimed it was because he didn't want to get paint on his brand new (free) t-shirt he gets for volunteering.  I pressed him some more and turns out that he says painting has so many degrees of rightness--meaning you neither did it completely wrong or completely right and you can always mess it up somewhere--that it stresses him out.  Hence why our walls upstairs are completely white (original paint even) except for A.'s room and the master bathroom.

*I know!  I offered to paint it for him in which he gave me his trained evil eye and made me promise not too.
*On to A's room.  This last weekend, I took apart her crib--yes, she's a month away from 3 years old, is completely potty trained, both day and night, and has been climbing out of the crib since she was 18 months.  Why do you ask?--cleaned out her room and put up a new bed for her.  All by myself since Wade was out with the scouts.  I am so close to finishing her headboard and foot board for her new bed.  I think it's adorable.  When it's done and up, I'll take pictures and post them.

*It's a good thing that it rained for four days straight, because the yard project had brought me to tears more than once.  Now that I've had a few days of a forced break from it, I'm ready to tackle it again.  The weather looks gorgeous for the most part this week, so I'm hoping to have it done by the end of this weekend. 

*Ha!  Just looking at that statement filled me with optimistic dread.  There's no way it's going to be done by this weekend.  I can hope though.

*Wade's scout trip involved a pair of ill-placed keys, two 15 year old boys, a child-locked door, the wind, and a two hour trip to cell phone range.  It's a relief to know that 9 people will fit in the Pilot in an emergency. 

*There are at least 112 episodes of The Magic School Bus.  How do I know this?  Because they are all currently on the DVR we set up for the kids.  I know!  112 episodes.  That's just crazy.

Untapped Potential

The other day I had to drop something off to my dad at his work.  It's been years since I have been to my dad's workplace.  I have only actually been inside the building once...ever.  And it would be no different last week.  The plan was to meet my father in the parking lot.

As I pulled in, I stopped at the guard shack.  The security guy asked me where I was headed and I (dumbly) said that I was headed to see my dad.

Him: Blank stare.

Me: Blank stare returned.

"What building is he in?" The all-knowing security guard asked.

Me: Blank stare.

I looked at the building in sight and pointed there.  "Um...there?"

Sidenote: my father has been working at the EXACT same place, in the EXACT same desk, for 30+ years, but I have no idea if I was pointing at the right building or not.

"What does your father do?" The Interrogator asked.

Me: Blank stare.

"Uh...he's an electrical engineer."

Another sidenote:  It's moments like this where I want to qualify my answers with "oh, and I have a math degree" so people won't be left with the impression that I really am THAT dumb.

Him: Blank stare returned.

"I'm just meeting him in the parking lot.  He drives a bright yellow car.  I can find it."

Him: Unpleasant blank stare returned.

"I guess I'll just call him."

Luckily, I connected with my father and found where his bright yellow car was and I was deemed not a threat to national security so yay for me.

But, as I was waiting for my dad to make his way down to the parking lot from his mysterious office in his mysterious building I was watching all these people riding bikes through the parking lot as though they were taking a leisurely pedal on a boardwalk by the ocean.

Except for they were wearing business clothes.  And they were all middle-aged.  And, my dad's workplace is located in what is not the most desirous looking place in the valley.  And the bikes were throwbacks to the old-school beach cruisers, with their deep v-shaped handlebars, big tires, banana seats, and whitewall sides.

So, a little strange.

When my dad arrived, I asked him about the strange bikers.

"What bikers?"

"Um...those ones." I said, pointing out the two guys in lab coats pedaling by.

"Oh those.  That's the transportation system in between buildings.  They're actually getting ready to bring them in for the winter."

It was at that moment, that I realized that I MUST work there.  The idea of getting up from my desk and taking a bike for a spin is just too luring not to work there.  What would I do?  Whatever they need me to do.   Administrative Assistant, File Clerk, Security Guard.

Okay, maybe not the last one.  Clearly, I demonstrated no ability in that capacity.

As I was driving away, I saw a lady riding a bike AND eating an ice cream cone.

That sealed the deal right there.  That's where I need to be!  I just hope that by the time I make the move back into the workplace, the security guard will be replaced by another 20 year old and no one will remember me from this particular episode.