Marathon Week

I ADDED THE PICTURES! THERE ARE TONS MORE WHERE THEY CAME FROM, BUT I PICKED A FEW FAVORITES AND HIGHLIGHTS!
You know when your calendar has no more room to write ANYTHING on, and the town has an actual marathon planned and the half-way point is right in front of your house, that you have an official marathon week planned. Get Ready!! Here was ours last week.

Monday: I can't remember
what happened, but that is ok.
Tuesday: We went to Adoption Orientation at LDS Family Services (LDSFS)
Wednesday: Our lovely dog Blue Houdini Princess had her spay appointment. This went well. I made dinners for Freezer Frenzy and worked from home that day.
Thursday: I had my HSG (hysterosalpingogram) That is doctor language for cause pain while trying to see if fallopian tubes are blocked and pay to have this done. Mine showed up as clear. I told them and told them, but they just won't believe me! Some people don't understand that this is NOT good news to me. I've been TTC for 4.5 years and I ovulate every month, have no signs of endometriosis. This just means that we have to go even further into the inf world to figure out why we can't conceive and how we can conceive. Thus the adoption classes. Elise spent the day at her BFF's home and school and I met them all at the soccer game at 6. Still a little crampy and just a bit tired. I got pictures of this last game, but can't find my camera right now.... Will add the pics later!
Friday: Recovery day, and my brother's birthday party #1 at Kobe. Then to mom's for dessert and presents. Went to Dome Hepot to get some plywood so my SFGBox can have a bottom on it. And we washed Mike's 77 caddi so we could put For Sale signs in it!
Saturday: The Half-Marathon started in front of my home at the Eden Park. They began gathering around 5:30 am. Music started blaring, gratefully with speakers pointed away from our home, at 6 am. Poor Melba across the street though! The speakers blew loud and proud right in her bedroom window. For an old farm lady, she sure put up with a lot! They had fire pits that blew smoke in her home ALL DAY. It was really exciting for me though. I was up right at 6 am with the rest of them. I was taking pictures and enjoying the energy of the whole event. Here are just a few, I have about 50!

Above Right: Just an early AM pic, I have lots of these with cool movement and stills. The lighting was so cool. Center: The potties! Seemed like they went on for miles. In this shot, the people that are lined up are really LINED UP to use them! One would empty and someone would just step right on up to fill it! Left: The runners did a warm up aerobics style in front of my house. It was great to see their mass of bodies all doing the same thing. I was sitting on my roof with Elise. We enjoyed it to say the least.)

(Above: Left: The Walkers! Amazing that these individuals would even bother! Center: The first Full Marathon runner to pass my home. He finished the entire race in a little more than 2 and a half hours. Left: The second Full Marathoner to pass my home. He passed #1 when #1 stopped for a potty break. I don't know which one of them won, but they both were so super fast and didn't even look winded as the trotted on by!)
I will run the half next year!! My running pals all were running. Kelly "Sky"Walker, Jenny W., and Larissa H. ran the half-marathon.

Jamie F.Ran the Full, here she is at my house! Hero!

Karen F. jumped in at the half when her sisters ran by running the full. I ran/walked down the street with Jamie when she got here. It was so exciting!!! I wished so bad that I could have gone with them, but I had other plans and shin splints. I planted my SFG. This included mixing my Mel's Mix and dumping it mostly successfully into the 2x12 box that I put in the front yard. Then I had to watch for Jamie and others. Then I had to shower. I got in the shower at 9:45 and had to be at the church parking lot for Freezer Frenzy at 10 am. Needless to say, in my hurry I fell UP the tile stairs in the back and I have a lovely cut and bruise on my right leg to show off! I got to the Frenzy in a frenzy at about 10 after 10. Then pulled back in, told Mike to help Elise gather her stuff to go to my mother's while I get ready to go to The Dave Ramsey Live event in SLC. Whew, anyone else exhausted yet? I am just typing this all out and re-living it. I threw my makeup in a bag, got my nice shoes on, blew my hair dry straight, and brushed my teeth. Drank a full 20 oz of water and ran to the car. GO!! We were off. A little late, but we were in the car with all possessions necessary for the days activities. Elise spent the rest of the day with my mom. I think they gardened and went shopping. We had a blast at Dave Ramsey with Kaylene and Jim R. We don't get together with them often, but when we do, we really enjoy ourselves. We met for a fat packed lunch at Wendy's and then left for SLC from there. After the event we went to El Jabaneros. That was danged good. Then headed back home. All of us had kids to pick up. We got Elise and headed back home again.

Sunday: MORE DRIVING!! Can you say, gas is going up, stay at home?? We drove separate cars to church because I have choir at 8 am and no one wants to drive me there.... And I'm always late or I would carpool with someone from choir. Then we came home expecting a nice quiet break before heading back to Mom's for dinner. Nope. No go. The Home Teachers dropped in! We like them well enough. They don't ask any really caring questions and one of them is trying to sell his house to us. So we visited with them for a while, sent them on their way. I laid out in the front yard on a blanket with a good book, my rambunctious daughter and her dog. Mike took a nap inside. Then we rushed off to my grandpa's. Picked him up and then to my mother's for Wings. A family favorite. Then after dinner was cleaned up, we had cake and ice cream for my little brother, yup, party #2. (Can a 23 yo have this many parties??)

So needless to say, I'm exhausted still. Just typing this all out... whew. I got lots of good pictures from the Marathon. It was really inspiring to see the wheelchair racers as they came in front of my home. It was also inspiring to see the half-marathon walkers! Some of them were overweight. Some of them were using walking sticks. And here they were, walking a half-marathon! And they paid to do it! Amazing.

Thoughts on my HSG: I was told this procedure would be PAIN FULL. Ok, it wasn't that bad. I took half a ltab before and I was ok. I could still feel the pain of some of it. It felt a lot like menstrual cramps, and bloating, and bad gas. The kind of mens. day that you'd feel so much better to just sit on the potty, all bent over. Even knowing nothing will come out. Recovery was ok. I curled up on the couch with my dog who was in recovery as well. I put a thick sheet on the fouton, gave her her chew to pieces bone and laid down with a blankie. I watched Days and read a new book, Almost Sisters. I also worked too, from the couch! Not too bad.

Freezer Frenzy: A crazy way of getting your freezer full of heat and eat meals. I signed up to make one and eat 13 or more. You buy the ingredients for the one you make for you and whoever else signs up. You make the meal. Freeze the meal. Then go to the Frenzy and exchange those meals for the actual cost of making that meal. Not a bad deal! I have a full freezer and lots of good ideas for freezing my own!