But wait, there's more!!

I have blogged a few times about my love/hate relationship with Facebook. Today's story is a love story. One of my oldest, dearest friends, Kim had posted something about ants taking over her kitchen. Another friend of ours, Michelle, posted something about Tansy on a cotton ball keeping them out of the house. This was the second or third response Michelle had had to a friend of ours that was a natural remedy.

Last week, my cousin Allison and I had sequential posts and were getting lost in the memory of Grandma Melanie. And just when I thought I knew all the ways you could use panty hose that didn't involve legs of any kind, my friend Michelle posted one of the most incredible natural remedy blog posts I have read in a while. And it included yet another use for pantyhose! Check it out here!

Thanks, 'Shell for the shout-out. And for the additional use of pantyhose :-)

Confessions of a Wannabe

As per my morning routine, I scanned my friends' and family blogs and found that today, my cousin Allison wrote a blog titled, "Pantyhose...thrifty tips from Grandma Melanie" and I nearly spit coffee all over my computer when I read the title. The flood of memories and photographs in my mind were overwhelming. I laughed so hard I am fairly certain I woke the neighbors.

To follow suit, I am here to confess some things that have promoted my husband to ask "did Grandma Melanie teach you that?" On some occasions, he even pays me the highest compliment of saying "you are just like your Grandma Melanie," although at the moment he doesn't mean it as such--later in her life she did some things that nobody really wanted her doing...like using a makeshift scooter to wheel through the crawl space. But I sure hope I am just like her. She was pretty remarkable. So, today I will list the confessions of a wannabe Grandma Melanie.

1. I reuse baggies for dry foods until there are holes in them too big to hold what I want to put in them next.
2. I drink coffee out of the same mug every morning
   
3. I made Good Cookies this week (that's a post for another day!)
4. I actually said on Monday, "my legs hurt, my allergies are killing me and I am weak. But I have my own teeth!" Really, Jenna? You had to throw out the "teeth" reference? Unless you heard Grandma say that, you wouldn't get it. But in my defense, I had just finished the BolderBoulder 10k with 56,000 people, uphill and hungry.
5. I tied my ski boots together for the season with pantyhose
6. Like Allison, I actually contemplated cutting the elastic off some underwear because I needed a giant rubber band. I resisted that one.
   
7. I started whistling for no apparent reason. And I liked it.
   
8. I have been shopping for wind chimes. I used to hate wind chimes
9. I have been smiling and waving a lot lately. Not sure what prompted that, but it's an OK thing.
10. Chris caught me climbing on the counter tops to get something heavy down that I couldn't reach. When he offered to get it for me, I just glared at him like he was an idiot for asking and went about my business. That evoked a laugh out of both of us.
11. I cut a hole in a old beach towel to make a smock.

Now, while that's not a comprehensive list, some of the things I am doing are because it's just a darn good, thrifty idea that Grandma Melanie gave me. The others are things that I don't even think about. Trying to always find the good, smiling and waving, whistling, and fierce independence are things that I think I must have just picked up along the way. When I do them I am not thinking "oh, Grandma used to do this..." They just sort of happen. And it's not a bad thing at all. And for all of the Grandma Melanie I am noticing in me, I see even more of it in Allison. Alli, if you read this, if I find underwear elastics anywhere in your house ever, I will put perfume in your laundry detergent. For all the marvelous things we picked up from Grandma Melanie, that's the only one that may fall in to "too tacky to be thrifty" category. However, if you want to stash turtles or peanut butter crackers in every drawer in the house, I will support that. Love you!!

The Summer of Run

Yep, that's right. I said Summer of Run. I officially named it that after I finished the half marathon and was ready for more!

Two weeks post-half-marathon I feel great and have completely forgotten about the hours after 13.1 miles when I could barely walk and had to take a nap. In my defense, I did get up at 3:00 am for that race!

And this Monday, Memorial Day, I am crossing yet another ridiculous thing off my "list." Since we moved to Colorado (the first time) in 2006, I have been talking about running the BolderBoulder. It's what people here do. But I have never had a friend to run with and until now, have never been conditioned enough to run it. The BolderBoulder is the country's largest 10k race which means it's only 6.2 miles...I can run that on a Tuesday before work if I want. So I've got that going for me. Which is nice. But here's the rub: There are, on average, 50,000 people who run the BolderBoulder. So not only will I run in only my second ever road race, I will do it with 50k of my closest friends. That's laughable!

I am excited for this race in ways that are difficult to express. It's not because it's my second race and I am super confident about it. And it's not because it's something that's been on my list for 5 years. It's because it's going to be fun. I am so not taking this seriously. AT ALL!!

At every 1/2 mile there will be a different band playing their music...more than 30 groups in all. Everything from polka bands and marching bands to grunge & punk rock to reggae and hip hop. It should be a blast. And I can't forget about finishing inside Folsom Field (home to the University of Colorado Buffaloes football team) and hopefully seeing Ralphie, their real-live-fully-grown buffalo mascot...or as I would prefer to call him, Dinner.

I can list a million reasons that this will be a fun race. But it boils down to five really important reasons that this race will be amazing:

1. Because for the first time in my life I can actually run 6.2 miles without stopping
   
2. Because it's another day I get to spend with one of my best friends-just us girls.
3. Because it's the 2nd largest 10k race in the United States and it's in my back yard (ish).
4. Because 12 weeks from Sunday I am running another half marathon, only this time in Vail and at 8,500 feet with 350' elevation gain. But it's a women-only race and I will get a pink feather boa and a tiara at mile 12. How could I NOT run that one!
   
5. I need all the training runs I can get!
   

Official Results

I am happy to share with you my official Colfax Half Marathon Race Results and a couple of photos that Chris took. I will post some professional race photos as soon as they are available...the website says they will be ready by Friday. Thank you Mom, Sue, Jessica, Lisa, Michelle and Allison for all of your support and encouragement. I love you all!

Before on the left and after on the right (I am holding up my medal!)

I ran a half marathon today.

I have the best husband in the world. As you all know (because I have whined and complained on this blog many, many times) running has never been "my thing." Until today. At the finish line, after 13.1 miles, I saw my husband yelling and whistling and waiving this sign. It felt so good.

Along the way, way before our half-way point, there were a few women cheering on a friend of theirs who must have been right behind us. Their sign read, "The pain will pass but the pride will last." I kept that thought with me for the rest of the run.

Between miles 7 and 8 we ran through a fire station truck bay. There were dozens of firefighters there clapping and cheering for us. FOR US! Lisa and I gave them all a high five and yelled, "THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR US." Imagine, firefighters congratulating me on running a few miles. They run into burning buildings carrying 50 pounds of gear. Now that's amazing.

But the most amazing thing is that until today, I had never run more than 9.5 miles in one day...and even then I walked a fair amount of it. And I know I said all along that this was all about finishing, not setting personal records. Just finishing would have been a personal record. But I can say with an enormous sense of pride and accomplishment that not only did I finish, but I ran the whole thing. And I don't mean "ran" in the 13-minute mile pace I was hoping for. I mean that I finished 13.1 miles in 2 hours, 40 minutes. That's an average pace of about 12 minutes per mile. And 7 of them were faster than that. I am so stinking happy.

I did it. And I plan to do it again. I will blog more after I get my hands on some pictures. And in the meantime, I am going to take a nap with a very willing beagle sidekick!



There will be more pictures to come, but for today, my legs are spent and I feel incredible. Chris

I have no words

May 12, 2011 at 7:30 am.

Needless to say, my last run before the half marathon was on a treadmill today. By the way, my back is still red from the sunburn on Sunday when it was sunny and 86. I'd like that back please.

We've had the equivalent of 2 inches of rain in about 36 hours. That's more than we typically get during the entire month of May.

Weekend Lessons: A List

What an amazing weekend. In the mid-80's all weekend with perfect sunshine and a light breeze both days. The things I learned this weekend are many. And since you all know how much I love to make a list, and I know how some of you like to read a list, I will share my weekend lessons with you in such fashion.

1. Running 10 miles is not easy. I had to walk part of it, but I did it and at the end couldn't stop smiling.
2. It is possible to get a little sun before 9:30 am in Colorado. I wouldn't call it a burn, but from 7:30 to 9:30 am, I did get a little pink on my cheeks and shoulder-tops. Guess I'll wear sunscreen next time.
3. A date night dinner of ribs, potato salad and cold beer at our new patio furniture until well after dark trumps stuffy frou-frou meals inside with linens every time.
4. Home Depot garden center on Mother's Day is much like mall on the day after Thanksgiving. The primary difference: Home Depot was only men and children. Not my version of therapeutic. No offense to men, but seriously, you can control the kids better than that.
   
5. Gardening for 5 hours absolutely counts as strength training. My legs are KILLING me this morning.
6. Target-brand sport sunscreen is the best sunscreen I have ever used. Applied once yesterday and it worked perfectly. Except for the spots I couldn't reach on my back. And now I have nice red "fingers" on my back. Stupid yoga shirt anyway.
7. My new favorite place on earth: The white Adirondack chair my dad made for me with a pot of lavender sitting on top of my McFarlane Dairy milk crate. Absolutely incredible.
   
8. If I can't be with my mom on Mother's Day, at least I know I can talk to her any time I want. Some of my friends had that taken from them way too young. I love you, Mom!