Just a Jaunt...

I remember the first fall that we lived here, I arrived at church one Sunday to hear some girls (Michelle and Kelly... who I didn't really know at the time) talking about the race they had done that morning.  After inquiring a bit, I learned that Nike holds a women's full and 1/2 marathon here in the city every year.  I remember thinking... "that would be so fun... a little crazy... but fun".

Well... I thought about it, and thought about it, and a whole year went by, another race went by, and I still hadn't done much of anything but think about it.  I had tossed the idea around, but I knew that it would be a challenge for me, because of some knee injuries I've had (torn MCL, multiple dislocations... ya know).  Then came the news about "Tiffany's"... apparently they are sponsors in the race, and they design a necklace that each competitor gets when they cross the finish line.  Well... let's just say that for a "not-much-of-a  jewelry" person, I suddenly felt much more earnest, knowing there was a little blue box involved.  

I entered for a spot in the race and was drawn... blood, sweat and tears... I was on my way! 

 I began training, and only a few miles in, I knew I was in trouble... I would try to push through the pain, but that would entail not being able to walk the next day because my knee would hurt so bad.  Not so good.  So after having multiple people telling me I was crazy to risk permanent injury, and after a flood of tears (I'm not one to give up easily), I backed off and began looking for someone to take my spot in the race.  Keep in mind while I was dealing with this, other friends were training as well, and we had all planned on doing this together.  Well... tender mercy for me... not so much for Michelle... she got really sick and couldn't train for a good amount of time.  Then her husband had to be out of town for a couple of weeks, that also meant time lost for training.  

Her woes were my rewards!

One day she called me (not anything unusual, we usually talk multiple times a day), and said that she had the BEST idea... why didn't we just walk the 1/2 marathon and get our necklaces?

Genius!

So there you have it... that's why I've called it a jaunt, because you better believe that's exactly what it was.  We walked 13.1 miles and enjoyed every second of it.  I was actually surprised at how many people do walk it... it was one big party all the way.

Getting registered down at Union Square... ask me why we thought it was a good idea to bring all our little rascals along for the ride?  Chaos amongst chaos.

6:00 a.m. = Nausea

Most of  you already know that I'm not really a morning person... I can NOT wake up before 8:00 a.m. without a full on gagging attack.

Good thing the atmosphere was so electric, or I might have been tempted to ditch the race and go back to my cozy bed.  

There was all kinds of fun along the way... 

... nothing like a little gospel singing to get you motivated...

... I HAD to stop and get a picture with the Falcon Maltese

I'm obsessed with the bridge behind us... I get a big grin on my face every time I see or cross it.

The 1/2 way mark... 

... our husbands and kiddiwinks met us for a little hug and kiss...

... Juli made a sign to encourage everyone she knew in the race.

I wasn't kidding when I said we took our sweet time... these cheerleaders were my best friends by the time I was done with them... 

Right before the end, I met back up with Joel and Maggie, and I carried Mags on my shoulders across the finish line.  

(She had the crowd roaring, because she kept crying for her Dadda and reaching for him across the barrier... obviously she wasn't appreciating the moment like she was supposed to... here I was sharing the glory with her, and she didn't want anything to do with it... I don't think it helped that I had a hat on, because she couldn't really see who had her)

Nothing like crossing that line to crazy cheering, men in tuxedos greeting me with "the" blue box wrapped in a white bow, some Jamba juice, and energy boosting granola.

I was told that the Nike Women's Full and 1/2 Marathon is the largest one of it's kind in the world.

At this particular race there were 25 countries represented and all 50 states.  Woot Woot!

The price paid...

(Sorry for queasy stomachs, but I had to document... they were huge!)

The reward gained...

Fall Bliss.

One of the many reasons I love fall...

Big pumpkins, small pumpkins, round pumpkins, tall pumpkins.

This place created a whole new meaning for Pumpkin Patch.

Example.

   

Not-so-good:

Early afternoon... blurry vision.

Mid afternoon... full blown migraine.

Good:

Great friends I can count on to help me with Mags.

A loving, darling, awesome husband who comes rushing home to the rescue.

Medicine.

Hugs and kisses from the best hugger and kisser in the world (a.k.a. The Magster).

The thought... it could always be worse.

Much to be thankful for...

We had the pleasure of hosting our 2nd annual Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner, and it went off without a hitch.  I might even go out on a limb and say that it was the best one yet (okay, okay, there's only been two, so I know that's not saying much).  We cleared out the living room, stuffed as many chairs as we could up to the table, and ate til our pants were going to pop open.

I'm kind of obsessed with making the turkey... I was in charge of the turkey, gravy, stuffing and potatoes, and I took it pretty seriously.  

Funny story : Joel and I prepared the turkey and started brining it 36 hours before roasting it.  For those of you that don't brine (you should, it makes the yummiest turkey), you have to boil the brining mixture to dissolve the salt and such... pretty basic.  Well, Joel kept going to the  kitchen and stirring the simmering brine, finally I was like "guy, you don't have to stir it, it just needs to simmer and dissolve, then we'll give it a good stir".  He slowly turned toward me, gave me a "I pity your attitude" look, and said, "Reg... this is what memories are made of".  Then proceeded to turn slowly around and continued to stir.  He was right, a memory was definitely made, and has now been copied down on the books.  Thanks for that my "J"...

The Spread : Nadine made three (yup three) different kinds of sweet potatoes (yum), home made dinner rolls and pumpkin squares.  Juli made the ham, creamed vegetables, and a pumpkin dessert that caused eye rolls it was so good.  Jenna made Joel's favourite, home made pumpkin pie.  Michelle brought a delish salad, and more than took care of the punch.  And last but certainly not least, Jocelyn brought a lovely center piece (that is now adorning the middle of my table), that I'm sure was also edible if needed be.  

Thank-you everyone for helping so much.

There are so, so, so many things to be thankful for... I have been blessed with a husband that I can spend 24+ hours in a car with, and as the hours pass by, he only makes me laugh harder and harder.  I have a darling little girl that bedazzles me each and every day.  I live in a beautiful city, with beautiful friends.  I have a family that I adore.  And I can't ever say my prayers at night, thanking my Heavenly Father for all that I've been blessed with, without being overwhelmed with emotion.  There is always so much good... and that's what gets me through the not-so-good.

Marker Mishap

What do you get when you take these markers?

From this box?  

note: Find me a the word "washable" somewhere on this box, and I'll give you 10 bucks. 

 No luck?  Yeah... me neither.

And add them to this little face?

Voila...

Look at those teeth!  Ew!

You better believe this little dumpling had to do some good long marinating in the tub after this escapade.

The beginning of "our last time" stuff...

This weekend was the last time we'd pack up our picnic stuff, drive down to Crissy Field from our little apartment, and watch (and listen to) the Blue Angels bedazzle us.  I'm starting to get a pit in my stomach whenever I think of graduating and leaving this place and so many people that we love.  

It was a perfect day for the air show, and Mags could NOT get enough, she loved every thing about it.  A couple days earlier we had met Joel at a beautiful park in the city near his school for  a picnic.  While sitting on the side of the hill, three Blue Angels came screaming overhead.  At first Maggie was thrilled... then frightened... then reverted back to being thrilled.  It was so surreal to be sitting in on our picnic blanket, with the city in full view, and have these amazing jets fly over top of us.  The rest of the week and weekend, whenever Mags could hear the Blue Angels out practicing, she would light up and start to cheer (I could hear her even while she was "supposed" to be napping). 

It was fun to introduce the M family to some of the delights that San Francisco has to offer, I hope they enjoy their three years here, as much as we did.

Interesting little fact... Mags and Nayvee are less than a week apart, and Nayvee's Mom and I are only a day apart... kinda funny.

Ki and Nayvee wanted in on the action...

Blowing the Blue Angels a kiss goodbye...

Heaven...

... is snuggling on the couch with your two year old, watching an early morning cartoon, when out of no where, your little munchkin looks up at you, kisses you on the cheek without any provocation, and then resumes watching her show... hmmm... Heaven.

All About Miss Maguire

                

                         

                         

It's Pott"ee" time!

She's just started to take interest, so instead of pushing it, I just let her go and sit on the Throne whenever she feels like it.  After a couple of rounds of this and nothing, all of the sudden she was peeing... woot woot!  I think we're going to tackle it head on coming up in the next couple of weeks, but for now, I'm going to stick with the "only when interested" approach.

-  She was loving the treat time afterward, but didn't appreciate when signing for "more" that that was all she was going to get, until the next pee session.

                 

Miss Mags had her very first band-aid this past week... not bad for being 2 1/2 years old eh?  She was unloading the dishwasher with her Dad and thought that she could handle some of the sharper utensils.  Joel didn't even see her until she tapped him and said "owie"... "arm hacker" a.k.a knife in one hand and bleeding thumb on the other hand.  No biggie... nothing a little lovin' and some bandaging couldn't fix.  

                 

How did this happen?

Oh yeah... and how did those abs happen?... sheesh.  Share the secret Mags.