My First 5k - Makin' Tracks

Today was the day.  The day of my first 5k.  The officer and I ran the Makin' Tracks 5k in the Piedmont Founder's Day celebration.  The kids participated in the one mile fun walk/run with my sister and her children.  

Last night I looked at the weather forecast for the morning.  90% chance of rain.  High of 72 degrees.  Yay.  And I do mean yay.  I would rather run in the rain and cool weather than weather in the 80s.  The officer, however, was not looking forward to it.  

The race was scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. with check-in starting at 6 a.m.  It was going to be an early, early morning for this homeschooling family.  The officer wanted to be there at 6 a.m.  Later I found out he thought the race started at 7 a.m.  We woke the kids up at 5:20 a.m.  We left the house at 5:45 a.m. and headed to Piedmont.  It was raining.  At 6 a.m., we picked up our race packets.  And then.....  we waited.  We went to a local McDonalds to wait some more.  We were all nice, dry, and warm in there.  :)

Around 6:45 a.m., we headed back to the race.  We met up with my sister and her three littles.  We stood outside for about 30 minutes, getting a little more wet with each passing minute.  We'd all be soaked to the bone by the time we are finished.

The race official lined us up at 7:25 a.m.  I told the officer there was no need to get up in front and be in everyone's way.  All the 5kers were going to be running in one directions and the one mile fun walk/runners would be going in the opposite direction.

The starting pistol was shot and we were off.  The 5k was to help raise funds for the Piedmont cross country team.  My niece was volunteering during the race.  She was at the standing at the first turn directing runners.  She took this picture of the officer and me.  I was all smiles then.

It wasn't long before all I saw was an older gentlemen in front of me.  Most of the other runners were far ahead.  My only goal was to not stop running.  The officer stayed with me the whole time.  I know he probably got a little bored running so slow, but he hung in there with me.  He may have run some of the race backwards.  I may have even seen him skip a few times.  Maybe not.

It wasn't a difficult race.  I enjoyed the rain and cool weather.  In fact, about a mile into it I was getting hot and wanted to take off my sweatshirt, but I thought I would probably have to stop for that so I didn't do it.  As I rounded my last turn, I saw my niece, son and daughter running toward me to finish the last leg.  As I closed in on the finish line, the officer was encouraging me to finish strong and my sister and her children were waiting and cheering across the finish line.  I was terribly slow, but I completed my goal for my first 5k. I ran the whole thing - in 43:01 minutes. 

 

 

  

 

After I was finished, I stayed around for medals.  I was pretty sure since there were three people behind me there would be no reason to stay, but the officer said I may have done well for my age group (41-50 year olds). Turns out he was right.  I got third place for my age group. 

There may have only been five people in this age group and two of the five may have walked the entire race.  I think you can see them behind me in this picture.

The kids all had fun during the one mile walk/fun.  Son said he ran the whole thing.  I think they enjoyed walking and running in the rain too.

 

After the race, the officer and my son had to go help set up the Trail Life booth for Founder's Day.  They were going to help spread the word about Trail Life, sell cowboy cookers and vanilla ice cream topped with Magic Shell and bacon!  Daughter and I headed home to change clothes and pick up some more dry clothes for son.  We went back to Piedmont to watch the parade. 

Daughter was very excited to have her rain boots.

Son did a great job spreading the word about Trail Life.

Overall, it was a great day.  I never, ever thought I would run a 5k.  Like. EVER.  I didn't think it was possible for me.  If I can do it, anyone can.  It all started out with one little walk around the block about a year and half ago and a run around the blog this past June.  I will do another 5k.  The officer said we need to focus next time on doing it faster.  I agree, but I think I'd like to run another one, just to do it and enjoy it before I try for quicker time. 

I'm so thankful for the officer though.  He has encouraged me this whole time. Always acknowledging the hard work and encouraging me to keep it up.  He may have not enjoyed running slow in the cool, rainy weather, but he never complained.  He just encouraged and photographed along the way.  Love him.

New Shoes!

I'm a little giddy.  I got some new tennis shoes.   I have to get new walking shoes about every three months. I went to Famous Footwear to purchase the same pair of pink Saucony tennis shoes.

They did not have them!  They called another Famous Footwear.  The closest store that had them was 1 1/2 hours away.  They are on clearance online and no longer available in my size.  Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!  I am a creature of habit.  I don't mind change, but if something works, why change it.  Take a look at my shoes four years ago. 

Fortunately, the sales clerk was very kind and said I could get a similar pair for the same price.  

I really enjoy that first day of walking in my new shoes.  Everything is "cushy".  I like the sound the bottom of shoes make on the sidewalk.  I like the way the bottom of the shoe looks.  Probably because in three months you won't be able to see the majority of the green on the bottom of the shoes.  Yeah, I took a picture of the bottom of my shoes. 

Not quite sure what I am going to do in three months when I have to get new shoes again.  I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Yesterday, I took the kids swimming.  I had told them on Wednesday we would go swim with my niece.  They started their school at 8:30 a.m. to make sure they got it finished.  They did.  While they were swimming, I noticed something on one of the lounge chairs.  Can you see it on the chairs in the picture below?

Upon closer inspection.... an eyeball sticker.

FREAKY!  Even now as I'm typing this post, FREAKY.   It reminded me of a necklace my mom got me for a Christmas gag gift.  She's a funny woman.  Maybe my mom put it there.

 This morning the officer stopped by to say goodbye.  Can you guess what he's going to do? 

That's right.  Golfing.  Yep, he has his three clubs zip tied to his motorcycle seat.  Golf balls in a Ziplock baggie in the saddlebag.  He played with his dad, two uncles, a cousin, and brother-in-law.  Not sure how he did, but he had a great time. 

Tomorrow, my son tests for this third degree black belt in tae kwon do.  He's a bit nervous, but looking forward to it.  He has a lot of family and friends coming to support him.  I'm sure I'll be posting pictures of that tomorrow.  :)

So I will leave you with this.  This morning, my daughter called me and said, "Mommy, I want to go on your last two laps with you.  I want walk Hobbs and ride my bike."  No problem.  She came out with me and on the first lap she walked Hobbs.  She put up Hobbs and grabbed her bicycle.  When she rides her bike, she is usually a bit ahead of me.  I noticed about halfway through the lap, she was walking her bike.  When I got a little closer, I asked her if she was okay.  "Yes, mommy!", she replied.  "What are you doing?  Why are you walking your bike?", I asked. 

"I'm walking my bike so I don't run over the rollie pollies."  She calls this cul-de-sac "Rollie Pollie Town".  I love that girl.

The Puppy Wall

For the past year at least, the officer has been planning on replacing our fence.  The bottom portion of our fence has rotted because of all the water that drains into our yard when it rains.  The officer told our daughter after we replaced the fence we could get a puppy.  She has not forgotten this.  The time has come.  Over this next month, all of the fence will finally be replaced.  The officer's dad has been so great coming down to help with all the hard work.  

The officer is not the only one doing work.  My daughter has made a puppy wall.  A couple of weeks ago, she discovered the classified ads has ads for puppies for sale.  She immediately got to work.  Cutting. Circling.  Taping.  I have informed her will not be purchasing a dog that costs $1,000.  At least, not if I have anything to do with it.  :)

Before the summer, I am sure we will have an new addition to our household.  I'll keep you updated. 

Fun, Fun, Fun..... Not So Fun

This week has been great.  My sister-in-law and her two boys came for a visit on Tuesday.  We had planned to go to the Martin Nature Park to hike, eat lunch, then go swimming.  However, when we arrived at the Martin Nature Park, we quickly realized it's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  Instead, we went to a park and let the kids play.  The kids didn't seem to mind the change of plans.  After lunch, we went swimming.  It was the perfect day for swimming.  

Tuesday evening, we went to the Court of Arms ceremony for Boy Scouts.  My son got his "Scout" patch.  When we got home from Boy Scouts, we had to pack our bags to go to the lake on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, we headed to the lake for some relaxation and fun.  After a quick trip to Wal-Mart for some burgers to grill for dinner, we got out on the lake.  The kids had a blast tubing.  It was fun to watch them bumping around in the water. 

We made it back to the cabin around 6 p.m.  The officer grilled our burgers, while my daughter drove me around in the golf cart.  She's a natural at driving.  It was a great evening.  

I woke up about 7 a.m. and went for a walk.  I walked down to one of the small lakes by the cabin. The sun was coming up.  It was a beautiful morning.  I went back to the cabin and took the kids swimming for an hour.

They were the only people swimming.  The kids enjoyed "mining" for black rocks along the shore and jumping off the docks.

We packed up and went into town to eat breakfast.  My daughter had a "Glitz & Glamour Night" at church from 7-10 p.m.   I took her up to the church.  Everything was decorated cutely with pink and black.  There was a photo booth, a place to make bracelets, tiaras, picture frames, paint fingernails, and other girly things.  My daughter was very excited.

The officer decided to take my son to Frontier City, a local amusement park.  It's been years since my son has been there.  He loved the roller coasters!  He wanted to ride a ferris wheel.  I think it might have been his first time. 

I dropped my daughter at the church and was supposed to meet a friend for a quick bite to eat at 8 p.m.  I went to Mardel to kill a little bit of time.  When I left the store, I got a text from the officer.  It stated, "First, I'm okay.  But will need you to come to the hospital emergency room.  Had some issues with food and they will..."  I immediately called him.  He said he had a hard time swallowing some meat and he couldn't get it out.  He went to the emergency room and they couldn't get it out either.  They were going to have to put him under, send in a scope and pull the meat out.  That's about all he said.  I got off the phone and cancelled dinner, called my sister, Mistie and asked her to meet me at the hospital to pick up my kids and then went to the church to pick up my daughter.

We got to the hospital about 8:40 p.m.  As I was driving in, the officer called me.  He finally was able to tell me the story about what actually happened. The officer and my son ate dinner at Earls.  The officer had ordered the rib dinner.  He took exactly three bites.  The first bite went down fine.  The second bite, not so much.  The third, not so much either.  He immediately knew something was wrong.  He went to the restroom to try to "assist" the food coming up.  Fortunately, the meat was not lodged where it would blocked his windpipe.  He could still talk and breath.  The officer said he was in the restroom for 40 minutes.  All this time, my son came and checked on him every five minutes.  The officer gave him to money to pay the bill.  He paid the waitress and boxed up the food.  He was such a trooper.  The officer decided to go across the street to the after hours clinic.  He told them what happened and they told him he would have to go the emergency room.  That's where he texted me.

My sister actually beat me to the hospital.  Bless her, she had four of her kids with her.  :)  She tried to find out exactly where the officer was.  He was in Outpatient.  I finally found out where he located, which was not easy with no one manning any of the information desks.  I called from the Outpatient waiting room phone and the nurse informed me they had already taken the officer back for his procedure.  I knew he was fine, but I didn't know where my son was.  The nurse told me he was with her and he was fine.  She immediately brought him out to me.  He was shaken up, but was fine  He had been so brave.  He went home with my sister.

I waited in the waiting room for about 20 minutes before the nurse came and got me.  The officer's procedure was finished and he was in recovery.   When I went back into recovery, he was still asleep, hooked up to all kinds of wires.  He came out the anesthesia pretty easily.  The doctor came in and told me what exactly he did.  He removed the two pieces of meat that were stuck.  Basically, the officer gets acid reflux which creates scar tissue on his esophagus.  When that happens a stricture is placed around his esophagus, making it smaller.  Eventually, he has a problem swallowing food.  Since he had no food in his stomach and only a little time had passed since the food got stuck, the doctor was able to dilate his esophagus.  That was a blessing because if he had waited longer, we would have had to schedule the esophagus dilation in a week.  

So thankful that God watched over the officer and my son through the whole ordeal and that my son and the officer were able to stay calm.  

And... no I won't be chewing the officer's food for him like a momma bird.  :)  

Rah, Rah, Rah

The other day I was listening to Klove and the deejay was telling a story about her husband.  The husband had been trying to lose weight the past couple of months.  He had lost over 50 pounds so far and was trying to stay on the healthy diet he had established.  The deejay was having a family get together and was in the kitchen make an appetizer with her husband.  She was making little smokies, wrapped in bacon (mmmm...bacon), covered in brown sugar.  Her husband was helping her.  She said while he was helping he said, "Maybe next time you could make something a little healthier I could eat."  It was not said in a malicious, rude, or mean way and the wife did not take it that way.  She felt convicted for not helping her husband in a way that she could with his diet.  She talked about encouraging him, being his cheerleader.  Not only verbally, but by doing things she knows would help him. 

1 Thessalonians 5:11 
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 

Of course, this made me start thinking.  Since I have started walking, the officer has not missed an opportunity to tell me that he is proud of me.  We've been married almost 14 years and he knows me.  He knows I am not a morning person.  He knows I like to sleep in.  He knows I do not like people (i.e. husband or children) chatting it up with me in the morning.  He knows me.  So when he see me getting up, often by 6:30 a.m. nowadays, he encourages me and tells me he's proud of me.  When he tells me he notices a difference in my attitude, he encourages me.  When he tells me, "You look pretty today." or "Those shorts look good on you.", he encourages me.  He had noticed small things and make them known to me. 

Proverbs 25:11
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. 

It makes me feel good to know my husband is proud of me.  It makes me feel good to know he is notices the hard work.  It makes me feel good to know he knows the struggles I have and wants to cheer me on. 

Proverbs 12:25
Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad. 

Then.... as I was listening to the deejay the other day, I started to feel convicted.  I know I do not do the same thing for him.  One of the officer's top five love languages are words of affirmation.  That's why is he so good at the encouraging.  Me?  Not so much.  I think words of affirmation may be like number 12 for me.  In fact often times, I "help" correct (i.e. criticize) than encourage. 

Ephesians 4:29
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.

I realized how much the encouragement has meant to me these past couple of month and I know it would mean more than that to the officer. 

Hebrews 10:24
.. and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. 

Encouraging does not come easily for me.   I am often more critical or judgmental in my thoughts than encouraging.  So this week I have set my mind to pray for God to reveal to me some ways I can encourage the officer, not just verbally.  I set my mind to try to let words that are uplifting and edifying come out of my mouth (or nothing at all). 

Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Rain Rain Go Away

Last week the officer took our daughter to the lake.  They spent time swimming, fishing and driving the golf cart. I love that they can spend some one on one time together.
 

Of course, there was ice cream.

They also found the cutest little turtle ever. 

And no trip to the lake can be complete without the spotting of a large snake.

While the officer and daughter were away, the son and I went to Martin Nature Park with some friends.  It was nice and breezy outside.  They have a great playground, easy hiking, and places to see wildlife.  Most of the hiking is in the shade so even it it's a bit hot, the shade provides some relief.

We've had our fair share of rain in Oklahoma these past couple of weeks.  Just last night our city had over 9 inches of rain.  It was a crazy night!  We had several days warning of the pending storms on Friday night.  The weathermen said there as a possibility of tornadoes, softball size hail, high winds, flash flooding and severe thunderstorms.  Whew.  There were preparations made.  Kid's backpacks packed.  Tornado bag with weather radio, first aid kit, extra change of clothes for everyone, and dog food packed.  All errands ran before lunch.  Back to the house for lunch and to storm watch.

My sister called and asked if she and her five kids could come over.  Of course!  She even brought a homecooked dinner over for everyone.  We fed all the kids and they went out to play before it started to rain.  Thankfully, the officer did not have to work late and was already home.  We carefully tracked the weather.  When it was within 15 miles from us, we decided to get everyone down to the shelter.  The May 20th tornado became big so quickly, we didn't want to take any chances.  So down into the shelter went two teenagers, five kids ages 10 and under, one 64 lb. dog, and three adults.  

It became very stuffy in the shelter pretty quickly.  The officer plugged in a fan to help relieve it, but then unplugged it in case the cord got wet from rain since we were sitting in a metal box.  Our neighbors texted to officer and asked to come over.  So another teenager, another child, and another adult squeezed into our shelter.  13 people and one dog in an eight person shelter.  It was tight to say the least, but do-able.  We heard heavy rain and hail.  We shut the door for not more than 10 minutes, but it was a little nerve racking.  All the kids did great.  No one panicked.  God's hand of protection on us the whole time.

We listened to the radio and decided to come out of the shelter after it seemed the tornado had passed us.  Everyone stayed at our house for another hour or so just to make sure we were not in any more danger.  The rain was crazy.  Our yard and street flooded again.  It never reached our back porch though.  Overall it was an uneventful evening - thank the Lord.

After my walk on Saturday morning, the daughter and I went on another bike ride.  
 

This morning the rain provided some entertainment.  Puddles to ride through.

In the middle of our bike ride, we had to take a break.  You see, there was more water.  We saw a mom and her two kids walking around in it.  My daughter wanted to go down and play in it too.  As soon as she got into the water, we noticed a fish flopping around.  It was trying to swim upstream, but had gotten stuck.  My daughter got a stick and helped it move downstream.  The other mother told me they rescued two other fish.

With all the crazy weather we've had, it doesn't take much to realized we are blessed beyond what we deserve.  It's the little things, time with family, bike rides, rescuing fish, drawing on the sidewalks that makes everything so sweet.