pics from today...

I had a pretty good birthday! I had to work the morning show. So I decided to RUN to work this morning. (3 miles) It was quite pleasant actually. Too bad it was 4:15 AM! This won't happen regularly! I ran home as well. It was really hot then... Wes got me a cookie cake. He bought me a new Rick Steves suitcase for our trip. Mom got me a bike rack for my car as well. Pete & Kelly came in late last night. I went over there this evening. Dad made Kelly a cedar chest. This is the first time she's seen it. We goofed off the rest of the afternoon. I have to work the am show tomorrow too. That's good because Bobby & Masayo are coming in tonight.... Can't wait for the weekend!

Dad's Day....

Today after church, I went with Mom & Ken to take Papaw's bed apart and move it to the storage unit. They are putting a hospital bed in his room tomorrow. We ate lunch and went to see Papaw in the hospital. Afterwards, Dad and I went to see Wes at the airport, and then headed for the RIVER!!! :) It was hot, but still enjoyable...


Dad tied the boat to the 4wheeler and we drug it to the river... It was fun...

This is the spot in the river where it forks for a bit and creates an island. We took the right fork, where there used to be a mill. It was so dry!! We had to walk for a quarter mile of so....

At Aldersgate, there's a Koi pond outside the front door with lilypads. I saw this lilypad flower today. It was beautiful!!! The lilypads look great too. We have lilypads in our fish tank, but they are not doing well because the light is artificial. (we need to get another bulb that mimics natural light.)

Busy Day...

We had a busy day today... Fun though. This morning, we woke up early to go to Bonita Lakes for the State Games 5K... It was slightly dissappointing. There were only 57 runners and 7 walkers there. I was expecting a few high school track teams or maybe some state running clubs like the MS track club to be represented... It was pitiful. Anyway, I did 30:24 (my best 5K is 29:14). It was REALLY HOT!!! I could have done a lot better. The only water stop only had powerade or something red... I wasn't too happy because I was planning on dunking it on my head. Thank God I had prepared for the heat and brought my own water bottle. I froze it overnight. It was gone before I was done. Here's some pics Wes took...

After the race, we were pooped... Wes helped Mom & Ken move stuff out of Silverleaf and stuff from one storage unit into another while I sat with Papaw. He's doing okay I guess. He's not "sick" really. He's just, well, I hate to say it... Giving up. Please keep him and everyone in your prayers. We just want him to be happy.

After that, I came home to change for a Sunday School pool party. We cooked out and swam with all the kids. It was quite relaxing. I haven't been in a pool in a while. That's one thing I miss about apartments... Pool access. Wes had to go to work, unfortunately. After I left Wade & Crystal's, I went and took Wes some fruit at work. Thankfully, they weren't busy today.
I still had my camera in the car so I took some pics of him working. Luckily, I caught him refueling a plane...

The Navy Jets park at the airport on the weekends and they fly them on weekend.

Luckily, this is what he did most of the day... The heat index today was around 105!!!!!

Oh, Lord help me!!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!! December 5, 2009 - I will run 26.2 miles...

I have paid my $70. If I don't run the St. Jude Memphis Marathon, I've thrown $70 down the toilet... December 5, 2009, I will run my legs off. I've been talking about it for years! I started reading this month's Runner's World magazine and there's a training guide in there that adapts itself to your situation (1st timer, PR seeker, no time to train runner, the injury prone runner, etc). I sat down and looked at it closely and realized that I can do this! I CAN! My running partner for this race is a 60+ yr old man! (My news Director, John Johnson). This will be his 3rd marathon.

ANYONE ELSE WANT TO JOIN US???
I can share my training schedule and we can even train together! (Long runs are easier when your not alone)
PLEASE!!!

If you don't want to run...just come for support!! It could be a great weekend trip for everyone. While I/we are running, everyone else can watch and explore downtown Memphis! The website has a great Hotel finder that shows the hotels proximity to the race.
PLEASE!!?!?!???! I need as much support as I can get! The more people waiting for me at the finish line, the more motivation I have to get there.
I'm already nervous!! Full training starts August 10Th! I've also got THREE 5K'S this summer! The State Games 5K on June 20 (next weekend)... Watermelon Classic 5K in Jackson on July 4Th, and the Slow Poke 5K in Philadelphia on August 1. I may add something longer closer to the marathon... Maybe a half... I don't know yet.
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Mom & I went to Hudson's today... We were there for almost THREE HOURS!! They had a lot of name brand shirts, pants, skirts, etc for 7.99 each...

Oh yeah.... Congrats to the Penguins! They won the Stanley Cup last night... I was pulling for the Red Wings, but that's okay. I love the Game, not the team! :)

Why I think Nascar is no longer a "sporting event"

Look at this picture... This is a picture of the winner of some Nascar race (I don't know which one... the Ford Home Depot Walmart Valvoline Coca-cola Pepsi 3000 or something...) What I find most ridiculous is the fact that not only is there a giant cardboard sprint cell phone on top of the car, there's also a BOX OF OFFICE DEPOT COPY PAPER. What the ...??? So, when a racer wins, they have to put the sponsors products on top of the car BEFORE the driver can get out. If the driver stands in front of the product or does not hold the Pepsi bottle correctly with the label showing, they get FINED thousands of dollars. (I don't watch racing...maybe someone can tell me what they do when the Viagra guy wins...wait, I don't want to know. ) I've seen the big Powerade and Pepsi and beer bottles and all that. Whatever. But A BOX OF COPY PAPER??? Are you kidding me? I know the sponsors pay the bills and every sport has hundreds of them, but at some point, its not a sport anymore, it becomes a 4 hour commercial. Pretty soon you'll begin to hear "This 647th left turn brought to you by Shell Gasoline... This 648th left turn brought to you by Gillette... This 649th left turn brought to you by Colgate Toothpaste... This four car collision brought to you by Michelin tires...

Ridiculous.....

Random Pics from this week...

"Blazing Stars" from our yard. They are really tall and bloom from the top down...

This is a cool cactus that we got at Lowe's the other day. It's called "Eve's Noodles." No kidding!!

OUR RAIN 'CONTAINER'..... It's almost full right now thanks to the rain we got this afternoon..

The screen on top is too keep debris, animals and mosquitos out...

Happy Anniversary to us!! :)

Today is our 4th year anniversary. :) Yeah! We don't really have any plans. We're going out to dinner. We're saving money for our vacation. Plus I have work and Wes has school. He started his 3 summer classes this week. I also signed up for A&P 1 for the fall semester. A&P 1&2 are pre-requisites for the x-ray program.

Last week, Wes dove into a new house project... a Rain Barrel. More like a rain trough. (It's larger than I thought it would be.) We have the large stainless steel trough-like container next to the carport. He replaced the downspout from the gutter and now it pours into the barrel. He put all this together a few days after it rained like 5 inches within a few days. It hasn't rained since... There's no water in it... Hopefully we'll get some use out of it soon... I'll take a picture of it and post.

Papaw is doing better. He's gaining strength every day. Our hope is that he will continue to get stronger. His spirits are high and he's pretty proud of the progress he's made with his physical therapy. It's the first thing he talks about when I go by and see him. Mom is doing better as well. She's been out of the house several times. Dad has gotten on to her because she's done too much at times. :)

update...

This week has been pretty hectic...and its only Wednesday. Mom's surgery went well this morning. (Gall Bladder) Papaw is okay... I spent most of the day with him. He's a little confused, mostly because he's in a new place. He was the same way when he first went to Silverleaf. We all think (and hope) that he'll feel better once he settles in. I will tell you this though... I've learned a few things today... One is that I have gained a new respect for my Mom. What she has to take care of and deal with day in and day out. I can't imagine the emotional roller coaster going through her head on a daily basis. I realize today how much she does. How much I depend on her. How much Papaw depends on her. Wow. That's all I can say. There's not enough Mother's Days, Birthdays, Christmas', Thanksgivings, or anything else to say how much her sacrifice is appreciated. I truly don't know what I would do without her.

Wow.

Phoebe's cute little hat

Hudson's has had these little hat and cat toys there for a long time. Today they were 80% off. It costs 94 cents... She absolutely hated it! But it was really cute... while it lasted!

And there it goes... I put it back on her and she jumped down and pulled it off.

IT RAINED AAALLLLLLL DAY!!!

Literally! It never stopped! We had a river in the back yard!
We put this trash can under the water runoff from the house... It filled up in 5 minutes.