Mulberry Street

Life around here keeps going and going.  At the end of each day I wonder what I've accomplished and at the end of each week I wonder where all the time went.  The reality of all that wondering is that I spend my time on meal prep, laundry, yard work, homework, LEGOS, video games, reading, etc, etc, etc.  I snap a few shots here and there to help me remember our goings on... In the course of two weeks I managed to back into the opening garage door and sideswipe the van door.  The damage of incident #1 was minimal and already fixed/taken care of.  The damage of incident #2 is yet to be determined.  Seriously, someone needs to take my license away.  We got new plates or "tags" as they call them in VA.  I thought the decal was fitting for our family and I decided it would help tell our black van apart from all the others.  If I had just waited another two weeks I wouldn't need tags to help me tell the van apart...  DOH! Genevieve kee...

We went downtown to support Eric while he ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.  This year the blossoms peaked on the same weekend as the race, so we gladly woke up at 5:30am to snag a good parking spot, watch the sunrise, and enjoy the scenery.  The morning was NOT a disappointment.  There are many places to see the trees, but my favorite is at the tidal basin.  It helps that the Jefferson Memorial is my favorite. Unfortunately, we only saw Eric run by once, at the very beginning (see terrible shot below).  The course was shortened by about a mile at the last minute, so my usual strategy to see him along the course fell through.  The kids and I made the best of it, however, and played on this tree and sat under the cherry blossoms.  It was actually relaxing. Eric ran with/against Owen to "defend" the "title belt" made from a WWF looking belt with a taped picture on the front.  Eric loves a good practical joke. ...

Ashley and Lee invited me to Richmond to run the UKROP's 10K with them.  An excuse to run with friends and a break from regular life was welcome, so I went.  I ran super slow, but it was fun to do with friends.  Ashley was kind enough to stay with me while I trucked along through the rainy cold. Time: 1:03:59 Place: 11,157 out of 37,000

Fiddler on the Roof is one of my favorite musicals.  The music and lyrics are fabulous, inspiring, and reflective.  This post has nothing to do with Fiddler on the Roof , in case you were wondering .  When I wrote out the title of the post, I thought of the musical.  That's all.  BTW - I have the movie and I'm thinking that, now the musical is on my mind, I should host a screening.  We could all dress up like our favorite characters...or not.  We could just relax and and soak in the sounds.   Onto other randomness...   Sunrise on the W&OD Sunset on the W&OD I have been really lucky to sneak in two rides sans trailer this week.  One in the evening and one in the early morning.  They were wonderful rides.  I enjoyed the trail and just let my thoughts wander.  I believe exercise is better for me in more ways than one.  Exercise is good for my overall ...

You know a race is hardcore when the waiver you sign includes the following risks: "The risk of injury and/or death from the activities involved in the Spartan Race and the Event is significant including, but not limited to…drowning, near-drowning, sprains, strains, fractures, heat and cold injuries, over-use syndrome, injuries involving vehicles, animal bites and/or stings, contact with poisonous plants,…heart attack, and the potential for permanent paralysis and/or death." I signed up for the Spartan Race back in December.  Some friends convinced me to save a few bucks and register almost nine months in advance.  I never gave it much thought because my mind was on other races, until two days before.  Dustin had just emailed our team pointing out the afore mentioned language found in the waiver.  Then he signed the email with "Bring it!" Gulp.  To say that I was anxious is an understatement.  Throughout the summer I figured if I trained my...

Eric and I had the opportunity to run the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay in Utah this year.  I didn't realize that running the original Ragnar was on my bucket list, but it was.  When Ali asked if I might join her team, I jumped at the chance to fly west and try my legs out at elevation.  I think it's safe to say, however, that I can't run at an elevation higher than 2,000 feet without feeling the effects.  My first leg went great, but, my second and third legs were hard and I walked.  I admit it.  I walked during a running race.  I had to - Wasatch Back with it's dry-cotton-mouth-air, altitude and mountain passes broke me.  I am officially a sea-level resident and I'm okay with that. We had a great time running on team Wii Not Fit and made some great new friends.  It's amazing what spending hours together in a van can do for a relationship, gratefully we suffered the positive side effects.  We finished running the ...