What I am thankful for...

Around this time of year I think about all the things I am thankful for. There are so many things I thought I'd list them all out in no particular order.

1. My dad...he is the strongest person I know
2. My mom..she is ALWAYS there for me
3. My family...near or far I love them
4. My friends...they are there to support me in all I do and all I go through
5. My health...enough said
6. My ability to run...there are so many who can't, won't or don't
7. My job...I've been there 9 years now and know how blessed I am
8. Our military...they keep us free and safe
9. CatDog and SpongeBob...even though they are only cats, they are my kids and love me unconditionally...
10. A roof over my head and a car to drive...

He will always be my daddy...and my hero.

I've blogged before about my family and how much they all mean to me. I have been VERY blessed with awesome parents who raised me well...if I do say so myself. I think I turned out ok. Recently my family had to band together again and help dad through this last crisis. As he has said to several people, he donated the toes on his left foot to diabetes. His surgery went well and he is home again, only spending 2 days in the hospital. We knew this was coming for a while, and we prepared ourselves. Dad was ok with the surgery if it meant the ucleurs (sp?) stopped. He has spent every day of the last 8 months cleaning, changing and dressing this one wound. The surgeon said taking the toes will eliminate this...hopefully for good. I like his surgeon, nice guy. He answered all my questions on a level I can understand him, I mean come on, I don't speak Dr. I'm ok with him "dumbing" it down for me if it means I know exactly what will happen to dad. I went by Thursday after work to visit with daddy and bring him some food. The surgeon came by why I was there to change his dressing. Knowing the toes were gone and how much they had planned to take and actually SEEING it are 2 totally different things...and I was not as prepared as I thought I was. I know this surgery had to happen, and I want my daddy around for a while...but it breaks my heart he has to go through this. I started to tear up and had to look away. My dad is my hero. As a little girl he was invincible to me. And as an adult he still is. He is the strongest person I know. He is always there when I ned advice, help, guidance. He never judges, he just loves. He is honest and true. What you see is what you get. He is NOT letting diabetes take control of him. Yes, they battle it out, but my dad will ALWAYS win. I am his biggest fan. I will be there for him NO matter what...no matter what time...no matter what I'm doing. Thank you to all of you who have prayed, checked in on us and everyone that cares. Keep it all coming as his recovery will take some time. But he is a fighter and he has a lot of fight left in him! I love you daddy!

UPDATE 11/24/10: We had to call 911 and have dad rushed to the ER on Monday night. Long story short some of his staples popped off and he was bleeding from his incision. EMS rushed him to the closest hosptial but the doctors there would not close it back up...they said he has to see HIS surgeon. They bandaged him back up & sent him home. I took him to see his surgeon first thing on Tuesday. His foot was not bleeding when we left the house, but when we got back to the room & the Dr came in, it was bleeding...and bleeding A LOT. The surgeon located where it was bleeding from and it was a small artery inside his foot. He sewed it shut and we are hoping that will be the end of that. The surgeon is going to make a house call on Friday to my parent's house to check dad's foot again and I am hoping he will close it back up. So the assumption is that this artery was bleeding INSIDE his foot, filling it with blood and that is what made the staples pop off like they did. Now I saw dad's foot post surgery in the hospital when the Dr changed the bandages, but seeing it yesterday...I really wish I'd have left the room. It is to date the hardest thing for me and I can't even imagine how he feels about it. He is stubborn & hard headed and as a family we will get through this and he will heal, it will just take a little longer now.

Palo Duro 20k

I am late in posting my blog on this experience, but better late than never! Here is how the story goes...

My BFF Melissa decided this race was to be her goal race. I thought why not do it too? It fell in line with my training schedule...was supposed to do 12 miles that day anyway...what's .5 more? Now when I registered I read the name of the race: Palo Duro Canyon Trail Run. I thought trail run...meh...there are trails around White Rock. I've done hash runs on trails before, no biggie. Boy was I wrong! This race was much harder than I ever predicted. I showed up at the start to run with Melissa, stick with her through out the race, keep her motivated and encouraged. I treated it as a training run and not a race. To me it was more important to see her reach her goal!

So about the race & course itself. I knew it'd be somewhat of a challenge, but I wasn’t at all prepared for the ups and downs of the trail. I am pretty sure after this experience I can say that I’m 98% a road runner. I got sightings of the road during the race and wanted just a little pavement. I got some…like 10 feet. A few places on the course spit us out onto the road for just a taste of road and asphalt, then sent us back onto the trail. Thanks for the teaser. We started at 7:30 am, just as the sun was rising over the canyon. It was such a beautiful site! The first 3 miles were not hard at all, so we felt pretty good. We were thinking this was going to be a breeze! Then around mile 4ish when we started the up & down climbs, we took back the "this is easy". The up & down climbs lasted pretty much the majority of the race...some were short, some were long, but all were difficult. The aid/water stations were so much better than road races. We had our choice of the following: water, gatorade, Coke, M&Ms, candy bars, potato chips, sliced bananas adn the BEST of all: PB&J squares. Can you say heaven! The volunteers were so nice & encouraging...they'd even talk to you untile you were ready to run again. There is a different mindset and attitude with trail runners vs. road racers. They aren't focused on a PR, and if they are you'd never know it. At the mile 9 aid station there was a mama deer that was hanging out eating sliced bananas...it was an awesome site. And also at mile 9 was the stair case of death. Our legs were already becoming shaky, then we have to manuever a nearly vertical decent down to a clearing where a photographer was waiting was intimidating. And what a crappy place for a photo op. You either look frightened or thankful to have survived without injury. We had to go down these satirs of death step by step holding on to tree branches for dear life. Melissa slipped a couple of times and I kep telling her not to fall...I didn't have any band-aids. :-).

The majority of the second half of the trail was walking...and that was fine by us! We were saving it for a strong finish! We rounded the corner and could hear all our friends who had already finished yelling & cheering for us! I love that! It always gives me an extra burst of energy! We made it across the finish! Melissa's Garmin clocked 3:57:24. Fine by me...so many things were not in our favor...Melissa was sick and fighting allergies the entire run, it was not a road race which is all I've ran up to this point, and it was a challenging course. The remaining question is: Where are the cheeseburgers and beer??

Melissa, I am so proud of you for putting the hours & miles and completing your goal race...sick and all! You did great! The Las Vegas half will be a piece of cake now! Keep up all the good work!

Thanks to Melissa & Dave for letting me tag along. The canyon is georgous and I'd love to go back.

Next up: DRC half & White Rock half.

Motivation...or lack there of.

I have been in a rut lately. A huge one. The internet defines motivation as an incentive or reason for doing something. It seems lately I can't find any...at all. I have completely slacked off in my class and it isn't even a hard class to take. The subject matter is pretty easy...just a lot of reading. The last 2 semesters my heart just hasn't been in it. I want to and need to finish my degree, I just can't find the motivation I had when I started back to school in the Fall of 2009. My house is a wreck. I've never been a super clean freak, but it was always decent. I wouldn't be embarrassed to have people over. Right now, I'd have to spend a good full day cleaning before I'd let someone step foot in the front door. It isn't like it is disgusting, just cluttered and dusty. I have hoarding tendancies, but mostly with canned goods...so my house isn't waist deep in sale ads from 1997 or anything...don't want you getting the wrong idea. :-). Besides school and housework what has taken a huge hit from my lack of motivation is my running...and for some reason that bothers me the most. By this time last year I had accumulated 25.64 more miles in training than I have today, and that was with a month off due to an injury. For the year 2009 I had a total of 441.57 miles. I'm not sure I'll hit that mark for 2010...I know I won't beat it at the rate I'm going. I'm lost as to how to get my mojo back. I'm not sure how I lost it. All I know is I want to find my motivation again...and quick! What do I do?

How to Poop at Work...or in public...

This email has been going around for years but I received it again today and couldn't stop laughing so I felt the needto share the laughter. Because let's face it...poop is funny! Enjoy!


We have all been there but don't like to admit it. We've all kicked back in our cubicles and suddenly felt something brew down below. As much as we try to convince ourselves otherwise, the WORK POOP is inevitable. For those who hate pooping at work, the following is the Survival Guide for taking a dump at work.


Memorize these definitions and pooping at work will become a pure pleasure.


ESCAPEE - definition: A fart the slips out while taking a leak at the urinal or forcing poop in a stall. This is usually accompanied by a sudden wave of panic embarrassment. This is similar to the hot flash you receive when passing an unseen police car and speeding. If you release an escapee,do not acknowledge it. Pretend it did not happen. If you are standing next to the farter in the urinal, pretend you did not hear it. No one likes an escapee, it is uncomfortable for all involved. Making a joke or laughing makes both parties feel uneasy.


JAILBREAK (Used in conjunction with ESCAPEE) - definition: When forcing poop, several farts slip out at a machine gun pace. This is usually a side effect of diarrhea or a hangover. If this should happen, do not panic. Remain in the stall until everyone has left the bathroom so to spare everyone the awkwardness of what just occurred.


COURTESY FLUSH - definition: The act of flushing the toilet the instant the nose cone of the poop log hits the water and the poop is whisked away to an undisclosed location. This reduces the amount of air time the poop has to stink up the bathroom. This can help you avoid being caught doing the WALK OF SHAME.


WALK OF SHAME - definition: Walking from the stall, to the sink, to the door after you have just stunk up the bathroom. This can be very a uncomfortable moment if someone walks in and busts you. As with all farts, it is best to pretend that the smell does not exist. Can be avoided with the use of the COURTESY FLUSH.


OUT OF THE CLOSET POOPER - definition: A colleague who poops at work and damn proud of it. You will often see on Out of the Closet Pooper enter the bathroom with a newspaper or magazine under their arms. Always looks around the office for the out of the Closet Pooper before entering the bathroom.


THE POOPING FRIENDS NETWORK (PFN) - definition: A group of coworkers who band together to ensure emergency pooping goes off without incident. This group can help you to monitor the where abouts of Out of the Closet Poopers, and identify SAFE HAVENS.


SAFE HAVENS - definition: A seldom used bathroom somewhere in the building where you can least expect visitors. Try floors that are predominately of the opposite sex. This will reduce the odds of a pooper of your sex entering the bathroom.


TURD BURGLAR - definition: A pooper who does not realize that you are in the stall and tries to force the door open. This is one of the most shocking and vulnerable moments that can occur when taking a dump at work. If this occurs, remain in the stall until the Turd Burglar leaves. This way you will avoid all uncomfortable eye contact.


CAMO-COUGH - definition: A phony cough that alerts all new entrants into the bathroom that you are in a stall. This can be used to cover-up a WATERMELON , or to alert potential Turd Burglers. Very effective when used in conjunction with an ASTAIRE.


ASTAIRE - definition: A subtle toe-tap that is used to alert potential Turd Burglers that you are occupying a stall. This will remove all doubt that the stall is occupied. If you hear an Astaire, leave the bathroom immediately so the pooper can poop in peace.


WATERMELON - definition: A turd that creates a loud splash when hitting the toilet water. This is also an embarrassing incident. If you feel a Watermelon is coming on, create a diversion. See CAMO-COUGH.


HAVANA OMLET - definition: A load of diarrhea that creates a series of loud splashes in the toilet water. Often accompanied by an Escapee. Try using a Camo-Cough with an Astaire.


UNCLE TED - definition: A bathroom user who seems to linger around forever. Could spend extended lengths of time in front of the mirror or sitting on the pot. An Uncle Ted makes it difficult to relax while on the crapper, as you should always wait to drop your load when the bathroom is empty. This benefits you as well as the other bathroom attendees.


FLY BY - definition: The act of scouting out a bathroom before pooping. Walk in and check for other poopers. If there are others in the bathroom, leave and come back again. Be careful not to become a FREQUENT FLYER. People may become suspicious if they catch you constantly going into the bathroom.

My bucket list

I think everyone has a bucket list of some sort...a list of things to accomplish before kicking the bucket. Here is my list in no particular order.

1. Travel to Italy, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Ausrtraila, South Africa and South America.
2. Run a full marathon.
3. Learn to play an instrument...either piano or guitar.
4. Find true love.
5. Take ballroom dance lessons.
6. Learn Spanish.
7. Get married in a white chapel in Las Vegas by Elvis...a fat Elvis in a white rhinestone jumpsuit.
8. Go to the Grand Canyon.
9. Take a creative writing class.
10. Finish my degree.
11. Scuba dive.
12. Go to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
13. Go island hopping in the Caribbean.
14. Take an art class
15. Learn to say no without feeling guilty.
16. Swim with dolphins.
17. See a play or musical on Broadway.
18. Write a short story or book.
19. Organize my home better and do better about cleaning it.
20. Adopt a dog.

10 reasons to have a man around the house...

1. To change the lighbulbs & get things off the top shelves and/or places I can't reach.
2. To take out the stinky trash.
3. To carry the grocery/Wal-Mart/Target bags in from the car.
4. Around the hose fix-ups - hanging curtains (they've been waiting to be hung up for 4 months now), ungog the drains, hook up electronics, etc.
5. Someone to cook dinner for.
6. Someone to come home to & talk about our days.
7. To have someone to watch the big girl TV with on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
8. To vaccuum and dust while I do dishes & laundry.
9. To help rearrange the furniture.
10. To rub my feet after a long run while sharing a ice cold beer.

Am I wanting too much??? I think not.