why I ran the entire 5K and some other stuff

Why I ran the entire 5K:

When we were packing for Tulip Festival, I was listing off the things I knew I had packed. "okay, um...toothbrush, underwear, jeans, running clothes...."

"Oh, are you going running with Maria?" It was Steve, and that's when I realized I was listing out loud.

"yes. and for the 5K!"

and then he chuckled.

not because he's an unsupportive jerk, but because I think he really thought I was kidding. so I told him I was serious. and we loaded the car.

We had a very busy first day of TF. My feet were blistered and killing me by the end of the day. And that's when Maria and I decided we had to have one "practice run" before the big day. So we walked to the starting point of the race and just ran really casually to see how far we could make it without keeling over. The mile markers weren't up yet, but we thought we made it about two miles before we decided to stop and walk. And I considered it a success because that was much farther than I had run in my "training." (stop lauging.)

So we were walking, trying to decide how far we would make it on saturday. We didn't really care if we had to walk or not. I told Maria that this was a way bigger deal for me than for her, because when she puts her mind to something, she just does it. She has more will power than the rest of us 4 kids put together I think. So if she decided to run the whole thing, I knew she would. But I wasn't so sure about me. We figured that since I've birthed three kids in the last 4 and a half years, and she JUST birthed a baby 3 months ago, we were allowed to walk and still be proud.

But of course nobody wants to finish the race (or even the practice) by walking across the finish line, so we skipped the "loop" and then started running so that we could finish our practice run actually running. The first few steps of running again were quite slow. I was really hoping there was nobody peeking out thier windows and laughing at the inability of my legs to move faster again. I thought that feeling would go away after about a block of running again. But as I remember, that was about the point where my legs started CURSING loudly at me for thinking I could run again. Or wait...was it my mouth that was cursing? We'll have to check with Maria on that.

Either way, I swore to myself that I would NOT go through that feeling again on Saturday, and vowed to run the entire thing, even if it was embarassingly slow, which it was. :)

So Saturday came, and I told my very supportive husband, who could have slept in for once in his life, but decided to cheer me on (or catch me at the end) instead, that he should be at the "loop" to cheer (and no chuckling allowed). :)

During the race, we had a little adrenaline of course, so we ran easily past the point we stopped to walk before. But once we hit the last mile, we turned to run in direct sunlight, which I thought I would enjoy but very much didn't. I never thought I'd prefer running in the cold and wind, but the nice sunshiney roads made it too easy to concentrate on everything hurting. everything. even things I didn't know could hurt.

But then I saw my hubby. :) He cheered us on at two different spots of the loop, and since we were SO FAST ;) we even beat him to the finish.

we didn't walk. it wasn't an option. I was NOT going to embarrass my legs like that again with a CROWD watching me. :)

so that's why I ran the entire 5K.


And now for the "other stuff":

I have been sort of neglecting my blog the past few weeks and here's why: sitting outside and playing in the sprinkler with my little ones trumps the chilly dark basement ALWAYS. unless, of course, I get too hot outside and need to take a breather in the basement because it's consistently about 16 degrees cooler down here than upstairs. always. Here is some stuff I've been wanting to tell you...

We are down to THREE days til I see WICKED! AAAAAAAaahhhhh! I can't wait. I even have my "outfit" picked out. But that's because I only have one outfit to choose from. it was easy. :)

Brielle has mastered crawling. and waving. she learned how to wave at Tulip Festival. Gotta love riding the floats. :)

We eat a disturbing number of Hilshire Farms grilled cheddar sausage brat things in the summer. but they are so good....

We had to start over with potty training Josiah after Tulip Festival. gggrrrr..... Now I'm thinking maybe taking him the spot-a-pots wouldn't have been as bad as I thought. Because now he just thinks anywhere is fair game for pooping. it's gross.

We planted a garden! I can't wait for the produce in a couple months. mmmm...tomatoes, onions, peppers, zuccini, cucumbers, and cilantro. mmmm......

Some old ladies stole our money bag when Rachel and I did a garage sale. not kidding. and they had conveniently mentioned something about buying stuff for their "bible study" right before they did it. But Rachel ran after them and asked if WE accidently put it in their bag, and could we please check. and there it was. we did NOT put it in there.

The rocket sprinkler we have is the best ever sprinkler. I"m going to take a video of it and show you all, just so you can see it's awesomeness. Thank you Tante Lee and Onkle Rob. :)

Okay, I think you're all caught up now. This weekend, the kids will be in OC, and Steve and I have the weekend to ourselves. We are going to work on all the "paperwork" in our house. We have lots of organizing to do.

what! we are! ;)

and we're going to wicked. and sleeping in. and taking naps. and NOT blogging. I can promise you that. so don't even bother checking. :)

and now, in the words of Paco...
paz afuera.

some now-and-thens of Tulip Festival

Then...(riding the ferris wheel with my cousin Julie, and Ang and Gina are below us)

and now...(riding a much more expensive ride, and where was the ferris wheel????)


Then...(thinking I was cool stuff with my cousin Kris)

and now...(Lillian thinking she is cool stuff with my cousin Kirs and her family, in the "princess carriage")

Then....(probably just about to get last place in a race during a high school track meet)

and now... (after getting 286th place (or something) after the 5K run)



Then...(2007)

and now.... (just as much love, not as much choke)

Then...(1987-Joel and me in our costumes my mom made)

and now...(Lillian in the same dress, different apron my mom made later)

Then...(my family dressed up for the Maurice Chruch centennial)

and now...(my family dressed up on the float for Tulip Festival)

man...time flies.

stinky, puffy-cheeked proposal

I have about a million things I need to be doing right now, but I can't let today pass without sharing.

Today (the date, not the day, because it was actually a Monday) marks SEVEN years since the love of my life asked me to marry him.

It was the Monday before Tulip Festival.

I had very recently gotten my wisdom teeth out, and I looked like a human version of what I had imagined our baby "squirrels" to look like when they grew up. Big, puffy cheeks.

I decided on that morning that I should do arms and abs of steel. Steve showed up in the middle of it. I know for sure that he already loved me, or the sight of my puffy cheeked face intently concentrating on making my not-so-steely arms and my definitely not steely abs perform these cruel repetitions just may have caused him to return the ring. But obviously he didn't.

Steve decided on that morning that we should go on a picnic. He had just graduated from college, and was about to head out for the summer to Rhode Island. I figured it was pretty normal to want to spend lots of quality time with me before he left.

So I told him he better wait til after my workout. :)

We packed a lunch at my house. Then we went to his house to grab a few Cream Sodas. His grandparents would be coming later in the week for Tulip Festival, so there was lots of Cream Soda on hand.

And then we proceeded to drive around town looking for a park that wasn't being MOWED for Tulip Festival. We were completely unsuccessful, so we ended up back at Kinderspeelland where we started, and they had finally finished mowing.

We put a little blanket down, ate our little lunch, and Steve got out his guitar. There were not any big red "proposal" flags waving, because Steve often played his guitar for me. And while I imagined that to be the way he proposed, I certainly didn't think that it would be in my workout clothes with puffy cheeks.

There was a police car that kept driving through through the park, and finally he went to the parking lot and parked, facing straight toward us. I laughed to myself, thinking that he probably thought he'd pretend to be watching for speeding cars on Iowa Ave. while witnessing a proposal of some sort. Silly police man. There would be no proposal today.

Steve played a beautiful song about being with me forever, and said he had one more song, but he needed his capo. And instead of his capo, he grabbed the ring. I don't remember what he said. I don't even remember if I cried. I just remember being TOTALLY shocked that he did it right then. I was sure it was just going to be some sort of 'trick', so that when, at a different point, we went somewhere with his guitar, I wouldn't be expecting a proposal. And then there he was. On his knee.

It was perfect. Well, except for the puffy cheeks and stinky workout clothes.

But maybe that's part of what makes it perfect. It wasn't anything showy. It was a moment just for us. Just how I would want it. And the fact that I looked the way I did (which you won't see, because I'm NOT posting those pictures on here) just shows what kind of guy I married. He couldn't have cared less. He just loved me. And he probably had a hunch that I would be in some sort of "sweats" for most of my life, with my hair in a ponytail, covered in some sort of bodily excretions. The only difference is that it wouldn't always be mine...it would be our children's. :)

Or maybe he didn't think about any of that. He probably just wanted to have me for his wife, and in a matter of seven years be working a random job to pay for that wife and three children at home. Okay probably not. :) But we wouldn't change anything for the world.

Steve, thank you for asking me to be your wife so many years ago. It's still a privilege. Love you Babe.

our little baby squirrels bunnies

So yesterday our neighbor guy Walt (think energetic, strange older man, 65ish?) comes bounding toward us, so excited to tell us that he found baby squirrels in the backyard. He thinks he's BRILLIANT for suggesting that the kids help me nurse them back to health with a dropper. I think he's OFF HIS ROCKER.

He happy-walks back to his house, and comes out with a butter dish. and sure enough, there are two freaky looking grayish blackish squirming rodents in there. okay, so they aren't rodents, but they are rodentesque, which is just as bad for rodent haters. see?


and he seriously tries to pawn them off on me! I was adamant that we did not want them, and his story kept getting more and more guilt-laden. He was talking about how he has a dropper, but no milk, and they need milk. And how fun it would be for the kids. And how he has saved other animals too, and found homes for them, and how rewarding it was or whatever. And I just cannot get past the thought of squirrels scurrying around in my house....eek.... So I tell him that I will feed them once (even though I did NOT want to) but I do NOT want them in my house. So then he goes after Lillian, telling HER how fun it would be. He was not giving up. so finally Steve comes home and backs me up. We end it by getting him a cup of whole milk, and telling him that I'll do my best to try to find them a home.

So I post an add on craigslist. And i call our neighbors. They say no, but they have lots of other good ideas like cooking them up or letting them die and teaching Walt about Darwin. (he was kidding...I think) :) I figured I did my duty, and tried, and now I could sleep in peace, knowing I did my part.

And then, less than an hour later, I have five (FIVE!) replies from crazy people all over the city who want to house these two squirrels. So I read through the replies, and found a wildlife rescue lady. Okay, she's the one I'll tell Walt to call.

But wait, what's that I hear??? Oh! It's Steve talking to Walt outside while he loads the kids into the car. Steve tells Walt we have a couple takers, so Walt comes over and GIVES THE SQUIRRELS TO ME! So now I ended up with the butter dish IN MY HOUSE somehow. Totally crazy. So I run downstairs. I have some errands to run while Steve and the kids are gone, so I'm in a major hurry. I call Dianna, the wildlife rescue lady. Of course she's not home. So I leave a message, wondering how to get rid of them. Should I drive them over to you? I will do anything!!!

I put the butter dish with the rodentesque squirrel things in the sun to warm up. Walt had been holding them to keep them warm. NOT ME. I run my errands, hoping with every inch of my being that my phone will ring. Call me Dianna. Just call me. And about an hour later I'm back at home, without a call from Dianna. So I check my email again, and have five MORE requests to have them! who knew!!! So I find one from Vikki, who also happens to be from a wildlife rescue team, and she's wondering if she can come get them. I reply to her email saying "yes! can you come TONIGHT???" (it's already like 9:00) and then I hear my phone ringing! crap! I missed the call, but when I listened to the message, it was Vikki, the same lady who I was just emailing, who works with Dianna, and she can come NOW! yay!

And then there's a faint whimpering noise. But it's not coming from the butter dish. It's coming from the kids' room. Lillian overheard my phone conversation, and she was DEVESTATED that our "friends" were going to leave. I have never seen such real, sad tears, ever in my life. In the few short hours they were in our house, she became their mother. I should have known. And now she was FULL of questions. How old are they? Where are they going? Did their mommy die? Are they going to be warm? Why can't they stay here? THE LADY DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THIER NAMES! WE HAVE TO GIVE THEM NAMES! So I go and get the butter dish, and Lillian holds it tenderly. We decided that since they look an awful lot like overgrown mice, we should name them Jack and Gus (cinderella's friends, for the Disney dis-inclined). She shed many tears over her "loss," so much to the point where I was getting quite teary myself. I stayed calm, insisted that we were doing the best thing we could to take care of God's creatures... and took some pictures of course. I was not about to tell her that I was pretty sure one of them had already died. So, pardon the picture of a dead squirrel-bunny. And please don't tell Lillian.


Vikki showed up soon after. I expalined to her that my 4 year old was quite upset, and had tons of questions. So she went in the bedroom, and talked very sweetly to her, and explained all that would happen. Then she went to take a look at them, so she could tell Lillian how old they were. She makes a strange "ah!" sound when she sees them, and I ask "are they squirrels?" She informs me that they are BUNNIES, and I feel a strange sense of relief. The idea of fluffy little bunnies in my house is much more appealing than scampering squirrels. Never mind the fact they can't even open thier eyes yet or crawl out of the butter dish. It's just the idea of it.

One bunny had indeed died. And she promised not to tell. She went back in to tell Lillian the news about our "squirrels" not being squirrels and left.

wow. that was a lot of stress and such for one night. I've decided I'm not really a pet person. And knowing now what the LOSS of a "pet" would do to Lillian, I'm pretty sure we'll not be pet-owners soon. I'm not so sure that "it's better to have loved and lost..." Not if I have to share in the devestation with my sweet girl. That was torture.

So Gus, or Jack (whichever one of you survived), please remember where you were born and come back and play in our yard when you're older. And Walt, you're a bunny-pawning little manipulator, but it made for a good story. :)



*to the English majors, or the grammar-sensitive folks out there: so sorry for the mixture of many tenses throughout this whole post. It is bothering me big time now, but not enough to fix it. my apologies.