Find vs Make

I am pretty sure this is true for anything we value in our lives, not just running. We make time to do what is important to us. We make time to see people who matter to us. We make time to...learn more, seek adventures, pray, love...you fill in the blank.
We all get the same amount of time in the day. We manage to find time to sit in front of this computer and check out what everyone else is doing. Now, stand up, step away from the computer screen or cell phone and go make time to do something of value for YOU!!
I am pretty sure this day will never come again.

Grandparents Day

I must admit, if it were not for the activities of "the littles", my social calendar would remain sadly empty. Thank goodness they fill each week with something! Not only did Maddy have her play this week (see previous blog post), but it was also Grandparents Day at the little league park. I think it is a lovely tribute to honor all the grandparents and give them a special day at the field. The team welcomed us with an array of breakfast foods along with coffee and juice. They gave each of us a lovely flower arrangement. It was such a fun morning with the Cubbies posting another win on the books. Jack hit the ball. I yelled a lot. A perfect morning!

Front Row

On the side of my Facebook page, it asks, "Who's your favorite team?" Having never been a sports fan, I never understood the crazy fan mentality. At the risk of being drummed out of Orange County, the truth is, I don't care about the Lakers, the Angels, or the Ducks. The answer to who's my favorite team is "the one my grandkid is playing on." I will happily go, support them and cheer them from the sidelines. They seem to be happy to have Pa and me there.
Maddy's 3rd grade class play was today and we were second row, center, to watch the whole thing. It was such a cute story that was filled with songs and funny lines, but also a great lesson about using the correct parts of speech. I love that the teacher made sure it wasn't just some random play, but had a learning opportunity within it. They will probably remember the rules of grammar through this fun play better than by any workbook page they might do in school.
It may not have been on Broadway, but it was a play I was dying to see this week! Look at that face! Love her!!

Have a Dream

Not sure why, but this just made me smile today. You are never too old, too out of shape, too broke, too lonely, too ANYTHING not to have a dream. Some dreams are far fetched and out there and some are possible more easily and sooner. The trick is to always have something you are dreaming about, aspiring to, wishing for, but, most importantly, working towards.
I am not a rhino and I am not a unicorn. I am somewhere in between, but I am still moving in the right direction...day by day.
Worse than giving up on your dreams would be to never have one in the first place.
Keep dreaming...

Cone of Shame

In a recent study, it was found that people check their cell phone every six minutes throughout the day. This adds up to a whopping 150 times per day!! Now, I know people who put that number to shame! Yes, I realize there is lots of good information that can come from our phones and the ability to be "connected" 24/7, but I fear we are losing sight of each other in the little screen. People joke about texting people sitting right at the same table rather than talking to them directly. I personally find texts frustrating and often confusing. What exactly did they mean by what was typed? Without voice inflection and eye contact, much is lost in translation. I tend to talk through situations and ideas. Texting these thoughts seems tedious and much gets left out in an effort to minimize the typed characters. While, "Get milk on your way home." is a good use of texting, "I am so mad at you." can lead to a long, drawn out, back and forth communication that leaves both people less than satisfied. Which would you rather have ~ a person looking at you and smiling or :-) on a screen???
Nothing beats face to face conversations, for that is how we humans truly connect.
If you'd like to discuss this, let me know...just not through a text!!

Family

We drive each other crazy.
We disagree.
We hurt feelings.
We yell and we cry.
We rescue each other.
We help each other.
We share sorrows and joys together.
We love each other.
We wouldn't have it any other way.
We are family...and that's all that matters.

Health

If you got out of bed thing morning...If you walked down the hallway or down the stairs on your own...If you enjoyed the taste of a cup of coffee and read a paper with your own two eyes...If you went outside to get the mail...If you chased after your kids...If you let the sun warm your face...stop and appreciate your health. We are not all given the gift of health and many of us who are healthy often squander it or don't appreciate it enough.
Even if your body is not perfect, and who's is, be so very thankful for it and all its working parts. It truly is a miracle of the everyday variety.
Thank you, Lord, for my health!

April 15th

This is how I feel today! Ugh!! Tax Day and I HATE it. I had them in stitches at the post office telling them to wait until the last batch of mail today to actually send it out.Wish it were actually funny, but it's not! Last week it was the property taxes! Ugh!! April is just a sucky month!! The Easter Bunny is just not exciting enough to overcome this grown up stuff! It's times like this that I wish I could turn in my "grown up" membership card!!!

The Lone Ragnars

 Really, when you logically think about it, who would say YES to this: Let's run a relay for almost 200 miles from Huntington Beach on a Friday at 5am and we will finish sometime on Saturday afternoon in San Diego? We will have 12 people, two vans, lots of stuff to pack, virtually no sleep for 35 hours, only porta potties if you are able to even go, people will be tired and edgy, you will run at least once in total darkness in a strange area you have never been, you will suffer, one way or another....and, in the end, be glad that you did!!!

 Thanks to Pat McD, we named ourselves The Lone Ragnars and played off the Lone Ranger theme, hence the hats & black masks.

 My dear friend flew all the way from Austin to put herself to this test of endurance. We had laughs and will remember the stories for years to come. She was a trooper with the final leg of her run that was over seven miles!! She ran this after being in a van for 25 hours and having had only about 2.5 hours of sleep!

This guy was the driver of Van #2. He made sure EVERY runner was walked to their starting point at each exchange. He made sure he was standing there upon their return. He drove all over Southern CA, NEVER slept a wink, thought ahead to what was needed next and where we needed to be. He is, as always, my hero. Props also to Danielle, driver of Van #1. She was equally fantastic in her nurturing skills as well as driving skills. The two of them worked as hard, if not harder than any of the 12 runners. We all agreed, we'd never attempt this race without a driver...THESE drivers, preferably!!
Anyone can merely run and enjoy the process as sport or fun.  Running this relay was much more. We wanted to be challenged, to be tested and find out our limits. Once we found that limit, we wanted to surpass it. Some people on our team had injuries. They ran anyway. Some people on our team were beyond tired. They ran anyway. Some people on our team were new to running. They ran anyway. Some people on our team had no idea what they had gotten themselves into with this. They ran anyway.
Nobody wanted to let any of the others down. Effort was in huge supply. We gave what we knew we could and then we gave some more that we thought we still had left. We wanted to finish with no gas left in the tank. Every ounce of energy expended.
The pats on the back, the words of encouragement, the yelling and clapping from complete strangers are difficult to describe. It warms you from the inside out. It calls you to be more than you think you are. It calls you to respond the same way to other runners. It makes you a better person, even for a short period of time.
The aches and pains will subside. The memories and feelings of success and accomplishment will last forever.
From, "What am I doing here?" to "When can we do this again??" Now, that's Ragnar!!!
Biggsuzi

Running's the Easy Part

 Running the actual relay race may be the easy part of all this!

Organizing everything that needs to be prepared, is a daunting task. Race day checklist includes: three separate sets of clothes (one for each leg of your run), sealed into their own Ziploc bags along with a Bounce dryer sheet to keep the odor down, two pairs of shoes in case it rains on one pair, warm clothes for in between your runs so you can be dry and warm, flip flops to rest your feet, safety vest, headlamp, butt light, a printed map of each leg you are running so you don't get lost, food to snack on throughout the 36 hours that will, hopefully, give you energy and not drag you down, nor make you pooh at an inconvenient moment!

Not to mention cell phone, car charger, earplugs, running watch, sunglasses, chapstick, aspirin, bandaids, paper towels, pillow, blanket, baby wipes, camera, a copy of every runner's name, cell phone number, their emergency contact person and their phone number, parts of our costume to wear as we all run across the finish line together. I'm sure I am forgetting something. I will go over the list and the actual stack of things 10 more times before I actually put it into my bag.
 I look at all my stuff and I imagine multiplying it by six runners per van, times two vans, and I am overwhelmed by the volume.  Where will it all go? Where will we go? Will we have any room to stretch out between runs? Will we get lost? Will anybody cry? What have we gotten ourselves into?

Running the actual relay race may be the easy part of all this!

That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles

This Thursday, the night before our big 12-person relay race over 190+ miles, we are hosting a van decorating party and pasta carb load dinner. Even a runner needs a little treat, so I enlisted my favorite cookie queen, Jessica, of Cookies by Jess, to make us some Ragnar inspired cookies for dessert. This woman is amazing and her cookies are beautiful to look at and even better to eat! She took the Ragnar color and Ragnar logo and turned out this beautiful party tray. She can make a cookie into any theme you like. Your imagination is her inspiration! Love her and so proud of the success she has made of her cookie business in the last few years.
She ships anywhere, so if you are running another Ragnar in the future, she's your cookie connection!
Thanks again, Jess!
Biggsuzi