It Doesn't Get Any Better Than A Day Like Today!

Chip and Cloe...she's always up for having her picture taken and never complains about how fat she looks. That's Chip's kind of girl!
Me and Cloe. I tried to fix her eyes with the "correct red eye" feature, but it truly only corrects red eye, not bright white eye!

There is a hiking trail we love that's not too far from home. It takes you up to the North Ogden Divide Trailhead, and is 2.5 miles one way, making for a nice 5 miler. We do this hike about 3 times a week from mid-May until about the end of November. It's a beautiful hike in the spring, summer and fall, the scenery being equally beautiful yet different in each season. We snowshoe it in the winter and it's spectacular.

We often have the entire trail to ourselves, but will pass an occasional mountain biker or someone on horseback.

I took Cloe up for the first time last September, when she was about 6 months old. She's a wonderful hiking companion. She never gets too far ahead; she'll stop to wait for us to catch up or run back to meet us. There's something very soothing about hearing the jingle of her tags as we hike along. She especially likes the trip down, when she gets running and takes the corners so fast I'm always sure she's going to wipe out. She likes to find the occasional mouse to play with and takes a dip in the water every chance she gets.

Chip and I do this hike together a lot. We've found it's a great time to talk uninterrupted about anything and everything...or not. However, I do it alone (or now with my four legged hiking companion) during the week, after taking the kids to school, and have had some real "aha" moments the past few years while hiking this trail. It's a very special place to me.

Today was a great day. Chip and I started the day with a hike and beautiful weather, after which Caitlin and I picked up my mom and headed down to Salt Lake for some time with all my aunts and cousins. We met at Gardner Village for lunch and to browse in all the shops. There were 12 of us that were able to make it this time and we had a great time over lunch, talking and laughing. We're all so different in so many ways, but we really enjoy each other and I feel fortunate to have these women in my life. While we were gone, Chip and Sam played basketball, rented a serious guy movie ("Live Free and Die Hard"), and made tacos. Caitlin is at an end of year party now, and I'm enjoying a glass of wine and updating our blog. It just doesn't get any better than a day like today!

Memorial Day 2009

Caitlin and my cousins Bethany and Brandee doing what they do best....being dorks! These photos are out of sequence but I'm tired and I keep deleting the pictures when I'm writing underneath them.

My guys, one of which needs a haircut. (But he's still awfully handsome.) Almost all the pictures we have of Sam from the time he was a toddler show this same pose...thumb up. I swear he has his thumb up in the ultrasound picture taken of him at 16 weeks!

The Paul H. Workman Park in So. Salt Lake was named after my Uncle Paul, a volunteer firefighter and all around great guy. Uncle Paul was a lot of fun and I have great memories of him. He died of cancer in 1980, at the age of 36.
This is where we hold the annual Workman Family Memorial Day Ball Game/Picnic every year, weather permitting. Last year we were in Myke and Erica's garage because it was pouring rain. This year the weather was a little cool but nice. There's our Caitlin up to bat. She finally kicked off her flip flops so she could run. She did pretty darn good but shares her mom's tendency to hit foul balls.

Caitlin's off and running....

The cheering squad
L to R: Chip, Sam (behind my mom), Mom (a.k.a. Grandma and Gloria), Aunt Marci, Aunt Lisa, Cousin Christie

More family...Left side: Cousin-in-law Steve and son Seth. Right side: Cousin Christie, Aunt Marci, Aunt Lisa.

Both these guys are cousins, Craig on the left and Richard on the right. Both are also newlyweds, having been married in March and April. (My poor Uncle Dennis and Aunt Bonnie!) Craig's wife is Aubrey and Richard's wife is Wendy. Melissa, my well traveled, ultra-cool cousin is at the head of the table...where she belongs!!!

Sam, just hangin' out.

We had another great Workman Memorial Day get together. Our extended family comes together twice a year, on Memorial Day and at Christmas time. I'm not sure how the tradition of Memorial Day came about, but we've been getting together for this holiday for as far back as I can remember. These picnics were always a lot of fun and also meant Grandma's potato salad, which has been respectably duplicated by my Aunt Marci and her daughter Brandee. I seem to remember the first baseball game occurring when I was an adolescent. Since then it's been tradition.

Race Day

That's me, just about ready to cross the finish line. Chip had finished about 15 minutes before me, so he got to be the photographer that day. (That's what he gets for being so fast!) As you can see, the sky was a bright, beautiful blue and it was perfect weather for a race.

Chip and me after the race, drinking a refreshing Jamba Juice, and sporting our medals. This race was a P.R. for each of us. Chip ran it in 1:35:58 (9th in his age division out of 61) and I ran it in 1:53:20 (11th in my age division out of 87) It was a fast, beautiful course.

Kim and Eric, both long time runners. They employ the walk/run method for running and swear by it. They've both run numerous half-marathons and several marathons.

Our friends Bob and Carol. They've run so many races I've lost count. The travel all over the country to do so, mostly recently running a 10K while in Boston to watch the Boston Marathon. They're the most knowledgeable people we know when it comes to running. I always just ask Carol any running question I have rather than trying to find the answer myself, because I KNOW she'll know the answer. Bob placed 2nd in his age division for this race!

A group shot of all of us who ran the Half-Marathon this year.

L to R: Chip, Me, Kim, Eric, Carol, Bob

Our race experience actually began on Friday, when Chip and I, along with friends Bob and Carol, volunteered at the Race Expo. We set the timing chips for the runners, which really wasn't difficult, but we kept extremely busy and at the end of our 6-1/2 hour shift, we were beat! It was a lot of fun to interact with and be in the midst of literally thousands of other runners. I love to overhear the dialogue between runners as it makes me realize that there are universal worries, concerns, or things we just like to talk about, particularly before a race. I met people from all over the country who had come to Ogden just to run the marathon. Supposedly 49 states and 4 countries were represented in the race, but I have to question the accuracy of that fact, as I set people's timing chips whose home towns were listed as Fruit Heights, Maryland and Clearfied, South Dakota (Fruit Heights and Clearfield are town within 25 miles of Ogden). I think rather than 49 states being represented, there are a bunch of people who don't know how to put the correct state in when registering! Volunteering at the Expo was a very positive experience and something that both Chip and I would do again. It was a great segue into Race Day.

It was a very early morning, 3:00 a.m. to be exact, as we needed to be in downtown Ogden and ready to board the bus at 4:45. We arrived at the start area about 5:15, which meant we had 1 hour and 45 minutes to just "hang." It was dark and it was COLD! However, there were lots of fires, excitement, and just plain body heat that made it tolerable. The race started at 7:00, when almost 1,970 people crossed the Half-Marathon Start Line to run their race. I realized while standing there waiting to begin that this was by far the largest race I've ever done and I liked it. I loved the energy of all the people; we were all so different in size, shape, age, and appearance, each of us having our own reasons for running this race. The Start Line was the last Chip and I would see of each other as he was always 1-2 miles ahead of me.

It was an absolutely beautiful course and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to do a half. There were only a couple of hills, all very tolerable, numerous aid stations, incredible scenery, and because the majority of it is ran down a canyon, it's a very fast course. I have never been in a race that had so many spectators cheering on the runners and I thrived on that.

About 1 mile before the Finish Line, the course takes you through a tunnel that has a grated surface. Just as I was at the end of the tunnel, my right toe caught the grate and I knew I was going down. My first instinct was to fall as far to the side as I possibly could so as not to cause a domino effect of people tripping over me. Fortunately, there weren't many people behind me and this was avoided. I popped back up, knew immediately nothing was broken, and ran the rest of the way with a scraped knee and elbow that looked far worse than they really were. They did get me a lot of sympathy after finishing, however :)

As you get to the last quarter mile or so, both sides of the streets are filled with people shouting, waving cow bells, and holding up signs. Last year, the kids and I were at this point, cheering on Chip as he finished his full marathon. It's nice to have experienced both sides now.

When it's all said and done, I'm glad I came out of racing retirement. For some reason this race felt different from any other I've ever done. (This was my 3rd Half Marathon, my last one being 5 years ago.) I really can't pinpoint one specific thing that made it different. It is the first Half I've ran by myself, which I think made a difference. My pacing and thoughts were all my own, making it truly MY race.

We're planning on doing the local 5K here in North Ogden on the 4th of July. We have run this in the past, and last year Chip and Sam ran it together. I was in Iowa at my niece's wedding so I didn't run it with them. This year the three of us will run it together and Caitlin will do her part by showing up to take pictures. We're also planning to run a 5K in August near Ketchum, Idaho. This race has been organized in memory of our Youth Director who was killed when he fell while bouldering in the Sawtooth mountains almost 3 years ago. Sam is also planning to run that race with us. I think we'll do another Half-Marathon the end of August, the Top of Utah near Logan. That being said, I guess this was the kick-off of racing season for us and a great beginning it was!

Lots to Catch Up On

Caitlin and her proud parents. She did a beautiful job!
After the show photos of Caitlin's 4th recital.

Has it really been almost six weeks since I blogged? I guess I'm somewhat of a bipolar blogger. I suppose I knew it would be this way when I started a blog. I've never been consistent at journaling or anything like that. I'm always thinking of things I can write about, but never take the time to do it. I read a quote a few weeks ago that said, "If not now, when?" I've been applying that to all sorts of things in my life, from the mundane to the more significant. I'm going to try applying it to my blogging efforts as well. After all, as one of my favorite quotes states, "There's no such thing as an unimportant day in anyone's life" so I should have plenty to blog about.

Last night was Caitlin's spring recital. As you can see from the pictures above, she looked absolutely beautiful and danced amazingly. This will probably be her last as she's planning to change dance studios. She performed four numbers...tap, jazz, ballet, and character ballet. She did a beautiful job and had lots of support from family and friends.

Today is Mother's Day. I was treated like a queen by my husband who gave me a gift certificate for a massage, cooked a beautiful dinner for me, my mom and a friend, and has basically just waited on me hand and foot all day. He kept my wine glass full and told me I really deserved another serving of that decadent chocolate dessert he bought. I could seriously get used to this and am thinking about proposing to whomever it is that designates these holidays that we celebrate some sort of holiday that recognizes women at least quarterly. Seriously, I do love being a mom and feel like the luckiest mom around to have been given the opportunity to be a mom to Caitlin and Sam, and to have Chip as a partner, companion and friend to raise a family with.

Next week is our half-marathon. I'm really looking forward to this race. I will admit there were a couple of long runs that really got me discouraged. It wasn't so much that it was that difficult, it was just the circumstances and my state of mine on those particular days. One day I mapped out a route for us, thinking we needed a few hills to challenge us. However, even being a fairly seasoned runner, I failed to remember that driving up a hill is far different than running up a hill and suffice to say it was a challenging run. The first 8 miles was basically uphill (at least my version of uphill) and I really didn't think I would make the next 5, but we finally hit a nice straight road and I rebounded. Chip is so patient and accommodating. I complained and swore and complained some more, and he just kept telling me we could stop anytime, knowing I wouldn't. He knows how to play mind games with me to keep me going. Our last 13.5 miler was last weekend and it redeemed every challenging long run I've had in preparation for this race as it was absolutely wonderful in every way. Chip and I finally figured out how to do our long runs together, thanks to the advice of our friends Bob and Carol. We run together for a while and then Chip pulls ahead of me. I keep him in my sights, but every now and then he'll run back to meet up with me, run with me for awhile and then head off on his own again. I'm sure he gets in a few extra miles than I do. He's a most excellent runner!

The day before the race Chip and I are voluntering at the Race Expo. It should be a lot of fun. These expos generally have a good spirit about them. There's a lot of anticipation and positive energy present as people pick up their race packets. I think it will make our race experience that much more positive.

After meeting with the nursing department, I've decided I really don't want to take all my Associate of Science classes again to qualify for the nursing program, and still not be assured of getting accepted. I found out there were 1500 people who applied and only 100 were accepted. So, I did what every good college student does and changed my major. I have decided to major in Social Work. I will get my second Bachelor's in four semesters, then go on to the University of Utah for my graduate work to get my M.S.W. Best case scenario is I'll have my Masters in two years, worst case scenario is three years. I can live with either. Classes start tomorrow.

I have decided to begin volunteering for Hospice and went to a day long training session on Thursday. It was an extremely worthwhile way to spend a day. I learned a lot and was very touched by much of what I heard. I think it will prove to be some very meaningful volunteer work.

We had quite a scare yesterday as Rich disappeared on us for a while. He went to take the garbage out and never came back in. By the time we found him 90 minutes later, he had walked about a mile from home, in his slippers, and ended up in a hair salon asking for help. About the time I finally found him, the police had been called and were arriving. We got him home safe and sound, however, this kind of thing is happening more and more. I really believe it's time for him to be in some sort of assisted living facility. This is easier said than done, as a person can refuse to go into a facility and can only be placed there against their will if their deemed incompetent, which is quite a process. It's just a sad situation no matter how you look at it. Parkinsons Disease is a horrible, horrible disease and I hope someday they find a cure for it.

All that being said, life is good and on this Mother's Day, and everyday, I feel blessed beyond belief.