Cross Country 2008

Well, Morgan's first cross country season has ended and I think she had a ball. It was a learning experience for all of us - Mike and I are much more accustomed to sporting events that take place in a gym with bleachers and round objects (volleyballs, basketballs). This really was fun, though! Morgan learned so much and improved from the first meet to the last. Her first meet was at Apollo for a 2400 meter course where she finished 15th out of 16 runners with a time of 11:18. This week she participated in the conference meet, finishing 4th out of 30+ runners with a time of 14:11 on a 3200 meter course. Throughout the season she surprised herself by breaking into the top 10 runners in several meets, placing a season best 2nd place in Sartell, tapering at the end of the season and finishing strong at conference. And, you can't find a nicer group of young women for her to learn from and hold up as role models. I think she'll run again next year! Enjoy the photos (if you click on the photo above it'll take you to a small album from the season)!

Good Luck?!

So, last week I went in to the clinic for my annual exam. I walked into the little (cold) room with the big (cold) piece of equipment that was going to compress my breasts. The very nice woman handed me a card, pulled a flimsy curtain partially shut and told me to undress to the waist and put the beautiful gown on, open to the front. Without a single question, I did as I was told and proceeded to approach the machine. Every man should have to do this . . . just once! Imagine having a relatively concealed part of your body placed on a cold piece of glass, one arm holding a bar above you, one holding onto a bar below you, a piece of plastic whirring down the column to press this relatively concealed part of your body into a pancake shape and then being told to put your chin up and hold your breath! Yeah, right!

Well, I managed to get through the few minutes of humiliation and get myself redressed, ready for my next appointment - the check of my nether regions. As I was waiting for the lab tech to come back, I decided to glance at the card she handed to me. As I turned it over, I noticed it was basically a business card with two words written on it that nearly made me laugh out loud . . . Good Luck!

Hello . . . was I supposed to read this before the compression process as good luck while she flattened each breast from into a vertical and horizontal pancake? Was I supposed to read this after the compression as her wishes for my patience as I wait a week or more for the results? Or was this simply her best wishes as I proceeded to have other, really concealed parts of my body probed and prodded? Perhaps she could have come up with a more appropriate two words that wouldn't leave me pondering the intent of her message: "Cozy compressions!" or "wishful waiting!" - or even "Pleasant Dreams!" But . . . Good Luck?!?!?!

Vacation over!

Okay, so the break was longer than I anticipated - thanks for making me aware of the need to get back on the blog roll, Harmonica Man! Life has been busy but I'll do my best to stay on top of this. We have a very slow, very bogged down computer at home that I need to get fixed but . . . we are getting a laptop soon! Like Harmonica Man, I look for deals and didn't really want to pay full-price for a laptop that will likely be obsolete before I post my first blog post. So, my employer has a little program where they will allow you to buy computers they have cycled out of offices (we are on a 3 year rotation for computers) - we were able to score the laptop my DH has had in his office for $75! Can't beat that . . . once it is cleaned up and in our hands I'll have little in the way of excuses for not blogging.

DD started 7th grade this week . . . 7TH GRADE!!!!! I'm quite certain I'm not getting any older so I'm not sure how she is. She also ran her first cross-country meet this week, placing 25th out of 61 runners. Her parents are darn proud of her! Of course, she followed this stellar performance with a team dinner at a location we thought we knew with an ending time we thought we knew - and that blasted cell phone we bought her for just these occasions just didn't seem to work. Darn kids!

Where in the world is . . . .

. . . okay, I've taken a bit of a vacation from the computer. Maybe I'm avoiding what my friend, Jeff, describes as blogging taking over your life. I promise I'll try to do better . . . after my vacation at the lake. Of course, if I can find wireless access at the lake maybe I'll even blog there! See ya after a week in the sun!

Time Flies!

Guess I've been away for a bit! Life has been a bit hectic around here with dd finishing up 6th grade, dh returning home from his trip to Greece, and getting the summer started. It sure doesn't feel like summer with the weather around here. We hosted 35 people at our house for a BBQ celebration last night. We ended up with all of the people in the house, and the grill in the garage. However, everyone had a wonderful time - our church music director is heading off to the Peace Corp so this was the adult choir send-off for him. We even pulled out a couple of octavos and held an impromptu rehearsal in the family room! And, thanks to the generosity of one of my student employees, he offered to come over and grill for us and I was able to truly play hostess for the gathering.

We have been working on finishing up some landscaping around our ponds in the backyard - most of the black landscape fabric is down but do you know how hard it is to find cedar chips in bulk! And, wouldn't you know that the pond seems to have a leak in it! Unbelievable.

'Tis also the season for graduation parties - we had one last weekend, have 3 this weekend (including my nephew's), 3 next weekend and one the weekend after that. I'll be partied out!

Oh, what a week!

Wow! Am I happy to be nearing the long weekend! My DH has been out of the country since last Thursday and will be home in just over 24 hours. While he's been gone I've schlepped my DD to her first boy/girl party, attended a Confirmation mass as a sponsor, raced from that to a piano recital and then back to the Confirmation party, and then home so I could greet my mom who was spending the night. I've also spent the better part of 3 mornings rehearsing with 5th and 6th graders for a choir concert, played the concert, interviewed someone for a position at my church, and am heading to the all-school picnic shortly. In the meantime, I got locked out of my own house and had to break in so have also replaced a door with the help of a friend only to have it not be installed quite correctly meaning I had to find someone to come in and reinstall it (and pay them!). Can I breathe yet?!

Mother's Day

What was the best part of celebrating Mother's Day? Better than having my daughter (the reason I am a mother) snuggle up to me this morning and tell me she loved me? Better than having my husband tell me he loved me? Better than telling my own mother I loved her?

The best part was watching my grandmother open up her book - her story, really - and start to read it, with tears in her eyes. As she read each page, you could just see her reliving each memory, and recalling many, many more. What a wonderful way to spend Mother's Day - with my daughter, sister (who is a mother), mom and grandmother and our families, and watching ou grandmother relive all of her life stories. It is truly a gift to have her share these stories, especially all that she remembers at 91 years old (or is it 90? or 92?). Seems her birth year is in question - even after checking the 1920 and 1930 census pages, each listing a different year for her!

I hope all of the other mothers out there had a wonderful day, and had the chance to begin making new memories with their families - but also had the chance to relive some old memories and stories as well!