Hello? Anybody Still There?

Guess I should apologize for the belated post (s). I have been meaning to get on here and get this done, but I haven't and I apologize to those who were counting the days until I returned. I would suggest you don't do that, you may drive yourself crazy!

A LOT has happened since, when was the last time I posted...oh yeah, JUNE. We have been working very hard on our new home, installing wood flooring, painting, unpacking, running a marathon, getting a geo-thermal system installed, etc.

Yep, that's right, we bit the bullet and finally signed the contract, watched them destroy our lawn and burned up our credit card (which will be paid off of course!). I am hoping that we will be very pleased once our energy bills start showing the difference.

The kids are doing very well.

Audrey, who is 10 months, is well on her way to learning how to walk. She is practicing standing on her own and is walking holding our hands. I guess it's more like a wobble. She eats a ton, more than her brother ever did or rather does! She has already weaned herself and is drinking whole milk now. I'm not too upset about that seeing as she got her 4 front teeth in a matter of 2 days and knows how to use them!

Weston is 2.5 now and he loves, loves, LOVES, Thomas the Train, otherwise known as "choo-choo". In fact, he loves anything train right now, but mainly Thomas. We don't even have T.V. The only episodes he has seen are what I have allowed him to watch on our laptop through Netflix. I honestly hate the show. Who films a children's show with a plastic train set? Have you seen the program? The only mobile part on the trains is their eyes and the fake smoke that rises! It is so annoying. Only the very recent episodes are animated and almost likeable. For some reason though, this is the only program that Weston will actually sit and watch for a long period of time (spanning greater than 15 minutes). On the eating front, he's finally eating! He eats almost anything we put in front of him. I am thrilled that we no longer have him on the supplement. He is still a skinny tall little dude, but at least he is eating!

As for Chad and myself, we are busy working on the house. Back in September, I did run the Air Force Marathon at Wright-Patt AFB. It was a truly amazing experience. We got to the base very early-1.5 hours before start time. They tell you to get there that early for some unknown reason. Well, I didn't realize that Chad and his dad could come with me to the starting area, so I stripped off my sweats and sweatshirt and just roamed around in my shorts and t-shirt, freezing my rear end off. I did warm up after the first few miles of the race though!

I signed up to run with the 4:15 pace group and found them about 30 min before start time. The start was amazing. There was a flyover that featured the B-1B Lancer. It was so loud that it literally shook my chest cavity. All of the seasoned marathoners that were there said that it was the best start to any race they have ever been to.

After the first 5 miles, I was getting claustrophobic running in the group and getting jostled, so I decided to get ahead a little bit. The first 13 miles were awesome. I ran strong and felt great. About that time, my ankle started bothering me but I pushed through. Mile 17, it hurt too much and I had to start walk/running. I didn't walk much, maybe 10-30 seconds of each mile, just enough to give my ankle a break. Unfortunately, b/c of the overcompensation, my knee on the opposite side starting feeling it too. I pushed through and finished strong with a time of 4:23:48. The experience was indescribable. I met so many people running for different reasons, but the one that stuck with me most was a woman who was running in memory of her husband and 6 others that were killed in action this year. It broke my heart and brought me to tears out on the course.

As I was running and a few days/weeks afterwards, I said I would never run a full again, but as I think about this experience and all that it has rewarded me with I bet I will run again. I don't know when or where, but I've been infected!