Champagne...uh, Juice Box Wishes and Caviar...um, no...Fish Stick Dreams

Kenton and I better strike it rich. Otherwise, his teen years are going to be such a disappointment. Judah has lived the sweetest life thus far. Most of it's been generous gifts, or the fact that young children are easily impressed, or simple dumb luck.

Lucky Judah won a raffle at school and got to take a limo ride yesterday. His principle, Mrs. Jackson, took him and the other winners to McDonald's. I hear they all played the XBox and sang karaoke along the way.

Ahhh....to live the lifestyle of a spoiled pre-k student!

Let's Get This Party Started...already

Just as Juno starts her clever little story by saying, "It all started with a chair, " I too will use a piece of furniture to begin my tale. That will probably be the only similarity that Juno's story will have to mine, but it was an intriguing line to start a epic story.

So (clearing my throat), it all started with a park bench.

 About a year ago, I found myself sitting on this bench crying. I was five days away from my third marathon and during a short run, a pain that wouldn't subside, got the best of me and forced me to stop. I was unable to lift my leg over the curb. So, I dragged my right leg behind me and hobbled to the bench. I felt stuck in the park. I couldn't move without

 tons of pain. I called Kenton hoping he might be able to rescue me. He didn't answer. I broke down. I must of looked like a moron.

After a few minutes, I did all I could think of and that was get up and hobble home. I made it home and went immediately to a website trying to figure out what had happened.

Well, you all know how this story goes by now. I had fractured my pelvis. I wasn't a runner for quite some time thereafter. Even once I was allowed to run, I wasn't a marathoner.

But flash forward to today and here I sit, just four days away until my next marathon. I've been under close supervision by a wonderful friend and physical therapist. I've been accepted into a group of wonderful runners who have helped me train at a race pace. I've run and recovered from a 20 mile run, a 22 mile run, and even a 24 mile run. I hit race pace on all these training

 runs.

My family has supported me through all of this. Whether it's been long phone calls with my Dad. Jaw drops from my mom as she encourages me about the distances. Judah telling me, "I'll pray for you, you don't have to be scared, I know you can do it." Countless new and old family and friends checking in all the time and seeing how I'm doing. And especially Kenton. He's worked around my training, financially supporting my expenses and did it all willingly. He even dug a path in the snow to get me to the Y during a blizzard,

 so I wouldn't miss my 12 miler, even if it had to be on a treadmill. I love that man. He's never once told me to dial it down. He believes in me and I know I succeed mostly because of him.

So here we sit. Four days and counting.. 3 Days, 14 Hours, and 44 minutes...

This marathon is to be my Boston Qualifier. I plan to run 26.2 miles in less that 3:40. That is a 50 minute improvement on my best time. I'm scared to death and excited beyond belief all at the same time. Every little ting or twitch has me on guard. I'm fearful that it's going to storm. A million other things are swarming my head as the days tick down. But this is all normal. My nerves show how important it all is to me.

I have bib number as of this week. I'm #1495. I can be tracked along the course by that number. Every time I cross a timing mat (Every 10 kilometers, I think) my time will be reported at this site: http://tracking.theendresultco.com/2009/okcmm/index.php

I consider all of you (yes, even you who read this and never comment, or barely know me) very dear. I know I couldn't do any of this with out the love I get from all of you.

I covet your prayers. I can't wait to tell you all about it. I'm excited to tell you about being a marathoner, again, and How the Lord helped me rise off that park bench and shine for him.

Stringing Us Along

Judah got his first dose of silly string yesterday. His Easter basket came loaded with all sorts of stuff and silly string was one of his jackpots.

He figured out the new substance real quick!

Easters

Señor Ramon: What is this?

 Nacho: Leftovers. Enjoy.

 Señor Ramon: There is no flavor. There are no spices. Where are the chips?

 Nacho: Somebody stole them.

 Señor Ramon: Did you not tell them that they were the Lord's chips? 

Nacho: I was trying to! 
Señor Ramon: You are useless Ignacio! 
Elderly Monk: Silence brothers! This is the worst lunch I ever had. 
Señor Ramon: Your only job is to cook. Do you not realize I have had diarrhea since Easters? 

Nacho: Ok... Maybe I am not meant for these duties. Cooking duty.

 Dead guy duty. Maybe it's time for me to get a 

better duty! 

Okay, so our holiday had nothing to do with Nacho's poor cooking or the Lord's Chips. But we did

 have a wonderful Easters.

On 

Pal

m Sunday we toured the 

Resurrection tr

ail with my parents and Judah. Our favorite activity was when we chose a name for

 Jesus. The Romans had a sign made that mockingly

 said, "King Of The Jews." Judah wrote out, "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah." Mr. Randy helped him nail that

 sign to a cross.

We later talked about how Judah could view Jesus as his Lion, his protector

. The Lion of Judah. It was a very powerful experience.

The

 Saturday before Easter has taken on 

a new tradition in the past few years. The Easter Sun Run 10K take place at Sedgwick County park. The day was blessed with sun, calm, and for my first experience, warmth. Every year prior, it has been

 freezing cold, so this was a welcomed change.

My goal was to set a new PR. I ran the 6.2 miles in

 43:29. Good enough for a three minute improvement from my best time and 3rd place in my Age Group.

Rain was for casted for the next day so 

we bumped our egg hunt up to Saturday evening.

Instead of toys or candy we had a surprise in Judah's eggs. He had numbered pieces of paper to help him spell out his present.

After he ordered all the clues, he was delighted to discover that he's going to go see Monsters VS. Aliens in 3D!!!! He' very excited, tomorrow is the show.

We rounded out the night by making Jello Jigglers. However, the were less jiggly than we anticipated, but still fun. And of course we died eggs. Now, we're stuck with still about 1/2 a

 dozen hard boiled eggs. Judah like

s to eat them in theory, but I've thrown away too many played with eggs this week. (Take heart Kenton, only a few more egg salads and we'll be done!)

Sunday morning, I hit the road at 6:30 to get in my small run. As I headed back for home it began misting on me. By the time I was at church for worship practice, it was pouring. It continued to pour all day long. Our neighborhood egg hunt was canceled and our annual egg hunt with Aunt Faye was moved to Nana and Grandpa's basement. We made due, but it sure was a let down from the previous days wonderful weather.

It was a nice calm day spent with lots of wonderful people. Oh, and watching Transformers! I mean come on! It's Easter!

Who Are You Supposed To Be?

Judah had his school carnival on Saturday. After several games and prizes he decided to use his remaining tickets to get his face painted. He went in and declared that he wanted to look like a bear. The very friendly middle school aged helper had him sit down with his back to us as she went diligently to work. After several minutes he was finished and turned around. Once we saw his face we nearly fell out of our little first grade chairs laughing.

Judah has a great school. We've really been blessed by the experience he's had there this year. Adam's is not our neighborhood school. It's a little further away from our house and the culture is much more diverse in that neighborhood. Just to give you an idea, Judah is the only white boy in his class. I think every nationality is represented in his class. As for the rest of the school it's about the same, very diverse. 

So, as he turned around we insisted he go back and at least get some whiskers and a pink nose.

 His first rendering looked more like he was trying to blend in to his environment than be a brown bear.