This weekend we:
Jumped waves in Mukilteo.
Built driftwood forts.
Posed reluctantly for mom.
Played on a driftwood teeter-totter.
And cheated at Pin the Tail on the Donkey (she wasn't the only one).
And zonked out on the ferry ride home after spending the day with the Wallace family.
I hope I don't have to take a typing test anytime soon, it's nearly impossible to do without my main finger. Me and my right-index finger are tight, and it's out of comission.
Michael and I got invited to play in a softball game Sunday. The only problem is that I've never played. Ever. So we went to the batting cages, and that was fun. Then we were playing catch and I was getting confident and having fun. Then I did something stupid; I caught the ball with my glove (good) then tried to trap it in there with my hand (stupid). I knew what had just happened but didn't want to weenie out. So we continued to play catch while my finger progressively hurt more and more. I really wanted to play and was trying to make what I knew just happened untrue. 
Our Warrior dash ripped off pictures... I wore a shower cap to save me from 3 shampoos to get the mud out. It was hot but it did the job!
Since we haven't even begun summer yet (yes, it's mid-July) we really haven't had enough adventures to make blogging exciting. A mini-vacation is on the horizon though, so I'm hoping this blog with find some new life from it!
The kids with their latest stash of books for the summer reading program... Brady was feeling generally non-compliant that day and got himself some time in the corner (at the library) and this picture was supposed to be all 3 kids standing together by the bookshelf. Brady refused, so I proceeded to take just the girls picture; that's when he jumped into the frame. Ugh. Is he ever going to outgrow the 'ornery shit' phase? Or is this one going to last right into the 'disgruntled teen' phase? 
Katie dog passed away yesterday. I remember picking her out of the litter and bringing her home.
I THOUGHT the Warrior Dash on Saturday was my last mud-run of the year. I was ready to focus on the Bellingham 1/2 marathon at the end of September. Then Jack threw down the gauntlet for the Hell Run on the 1st of October. I would have passed it up, but it's at the same location of the funnest mud-run we've done so far, and you get: a beer (seems to be a given in mud-runs) as well as a medal and a CAPE! I'm hoping for another big group of friends to join us, the mud-runs are more fun when you have friends around you to point-and laugh at you!
I have amassed some random photos from the past week, so without knowing what else to do with them here they are.
I consider myself pretty liberal and open-minded. But I still think it's funny when men half-ass their cross-dressing. Of course his wife is wearing a matching jacket so maybe it's just me.
We went to the park and there was a wild bare... er I mean bear! I wasn't going to snap a shot but this bare was out forEVER. Come on, you have to realize that your pants are perilously close to the point of no return.
This is a rotohammer.
This is my sweetie rotohammering. Our dear neighbor is battling cancer and his wife is his full-time nurse (They're both in their 70's). They needed some handrails for the stairs that lead from their upper garage to their home. So what does Mike do? He found some scrap rails and welded some bolt plates (is that what they're called) onto them and installed them. 
Check out these tendrils on my snap pea, doesn't it look like a preying mantis? 
It appears that summer is here every other day. Yesterday was sunny and warm and beautiful. Today, grey and dreary. Is it possible that mother nature has a personality disorder?
We met my friend Danene and her family at a local water park, and she was kind enough to take a photo of me and my kiddos (man I miss having a good camera).
I love them.
And this summer, my mom is up in Alaska falling in love herself! And I'm falling in love with that salmon, YUM! 47 pounds and 48". My mom is 59" (I won't post her weight). But that damn fish is almost as tall as her!
On Facebook, the organizers of the Rock and Roll marathon asked runners what their favorite sign was on the course. Below are a few of my favorite, I wish I had seen all of them!As I was uploading my pictures for the week, I noticed that there aren't many shots of the kids! They've been busy moving and being filthy and just didn't have time this week to hold still!
We went to our friend Rob and Tracy's (Mongo and Morti to derby fans) for the 4th. They live above Marysville so we had a view of Everett, Tulalip, and their insane neighbors (we joked about how much money the neighbor had to spend to earn the giant fake "tnt" firecracker that his neighbor had sitting on his trellis)
We spent the 3rd at the Rankins... we had a scary but lucky moment there involving Sam and a firework that fell over. Thank goodness he is OK. Other than that, it was a fun evening!
Best. Beer. Ever. Get some, if you can.
Brenda and her daughter Nicole met us at the bowling alley for some "kids bowl free" bowling.
This jackass of a cat snuck into the dryer this week, then didn't have the good sense to jump out while I loaded it full of wet clothes. When I turned it on, there was a few "ka-thump, ka-thumps" and I was sure there wasn't shoes in that load, and I thought I had checked Brady's pockets for rocks... I opened the dryer to investigate and a grey streak shot past me!
We met our friends at Ezell's: Home of Oprah's favorite fried chicken in the whole world. I think we agree with Oprah, they have the recipe on lock. And the sides were killer! And while we were licking our fingers clean, in walked Ezell himself! And he's a runner!
Saturday I finished my 5th 1/2 marathon! That trumps the pain and "poor" performance I had. I only finished about 30 seconds slower than my finish time last year, but I was in a great deal more pain thanks to my hip. I had to stop several times to un-cramp it only for it to seize up again a half mile down the road. Very frustrating and took all that I had to finish. My friends were at the finish line to share in our victories (Jack and Kate had PR's!) and my sweetie gave me the best hug that brought me to tears.
Running has changed my life and saved my sanity. When I had my "aha" moment about my health and weight, I started walking. Walking got boring as it takes a long time to get to where you want to go, so eventually I started to sneak-run. I would run on the trails above my home where it was private and nobody was there to see my attempts.
Then in 2009 I ran my first 5k, The Human Race. I was 228 pounds and I ran the whole thing. I didn't stop to walk once and am pretty certain I was the last runner to finish that day, but goddammit I did it. And I haven't looked back. I may not be a natural runner and I am certainly not a fast runner, but I'm out there. And I love it. I mean I hate it, but I love what it's done to my life.
Running saved my sanity when I was in the early days of my separation. I felt frantic and sad, angry and free. Running made me forget all the chaos in my life and focus on me and who I was going to be when I came out of this awful thing called divorce. I am thankful that my body is capable to run, and I am proud of the changes in my life and happiness I've found.
Sold Out: 26,000 strong (Mike finished 8,573 and I finished 12,247th overall). Mediocre, that's me! And I'm alright with that. :)
I don't know where my "in-focus" pic is but this is my girl-Friday. We've Three-peated the Rock and Roll 1/2. It's our run-mecca. Running has changed her life too. And her body... oooh-eee she is smokin long and lean!
It is damn early to be standing around Tukwila with 26,000 people. My friend Jack has participated in several events with us (you may start to recognize his face on here). He graduated with Mike and his locker was next to mine for 2 years in high school. He signed every single page of my annual one year. Every. Single. Page. He is a funny, funny man and an inspiration to many. He's lost over 80 pounds and is a race maniac!
Our 3rd picture like this one. Ok the first one I was waaayyy heavier, and the 2nd one Kate was waaayyy not smiling! 
