In His Grip

Uniform Fashion

I don't normal care much about sports, but there are some things I do notice when watching a football game and that is the uniforms.  Okay, and, yes, the cheerleaders. The Oregon Ducks usually take the prize of the worst dressed football team, but this year Maryland can easily take the award.  Really? This is one uniform and these guys are on the same team. Whoever designed this mashed up flag uniform cannot be a real designer.  It is my own opinion, but I think that a standard solid color jersey with a contrasting number is best.  I would have loved to hear how these players really felt when they were told this was their uniform and they were going to look like mid-evil court jesters.  Ha, ha. 

Pilgrim Pacer Fun!

Lindsey, Anna, Sheri and I ran in the Pilgrim Pacer this morning.  It was a great day for a race.  The weather was crisp, okay, it was downright cold and the route was pretty fun as it went through a golf course.  My time stunk, but you know I am really running for the fun of it and never plan to win, but I do like to improve my time.  Today was not one of those improvement opportunities. The most enjoyable part of the whole running thing is to do it with people you really care about.  I love having friends who are willing to get up at 5:30 am and do a workout with me.  That accountability thing is what gets me out of bed on those cold mornings.  Barn boot camp is the best!

 
Anna and I ran the 5K and Lindsey and Sheri ran the 10K together, so we were able to get some pictures of them as they finished.

 
They are looking like they were having a great time running together, side by side unitl...

 
...the finish line came into view and then a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do and give it that last burst of speed and if that leaves the 20 something in the dust then so be it.  Lindsey, you are going to have to work on that final race to the finish if you are ever going to beat Sheri.  Seriouly, she is like 17 years older than you. Ha, ha.

 
She still looks pretty cute after running 6.2 miles.  What a great day.

Game On Mr. Squirrel!

I have had these adirondack chairs on my patio for over ten years.  My father made a set for me and my sisters one year as gifts.  They happen to be my favorite lounge chairs.  Just last week, my Mom put a new coat of stain on them for me and we were talking about how much I wanted to take care of them even more now that my Dad had passed away.  I went out and purchased another can of stain to get one more coat on to help give them that added protection against the harsh elements of Kansas.  Who knew that one of the harsh elements would include "Mr. Squirrel".  I have never been a big fan of Mr. Squirrel and have been known to call him a rat with a bushy tail.  There has also been times when I have declared war on these pesky little animals in the past.  That was when he was only eating my bird seed and pulling up a couple of bulbs.  But this is a whole new level of violation.

But Mr. Squirrel will not know what hit him after I found this evidence of his destructive little teeth on my beloved adirondack chairs.  Earlier in the day, I saw Mr. Squirrel sitting on my chair and did not really think much about it.  The chairs were sitting out in the yard and later I went to move them to the patio so that Jeff could mow when he got home and that is when I found this destruction.

Mr. Squirrel, just so you know, you will not win this game against my precious adirondack chairs.  I am bigger then you, smarter than you, and dog gone it I DO NOT LIKE YOU.  Back away from the chairs, because you are going down. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Oh, I'm not going to lie, I know exactly what I'm going to do but I will not incriminate myself here.  Just know the game is on and Mr. Squirrel will not win!  If you have any suggestions on how to win against Mr. Squirrel please leave a comment.

5 lbs. to 8 lbs.

So you would think that the difference between 5 lbs. and 8 lbs. is really not all that different, right?  Well I am here to tell you it makes a huge difference when it comes to the soreness of my muscles.  Okay, so call me a wimp if you want, but this week I have changed from using 5 lbs. weights at my fit camp workout to 8 lbs., and, oh my heck, my arms are killing me.  I am not sure I will be able to lift my glass of water by the end of the day.  It is going on a year now since some girlfriends and I started meeting together 3 days a week to do a "boot camp" type workout.  Sheri, she's the "coach", does the research, writes up our workouts,and  checks them out with a professional that she knows to make sure we are not hurting ourselves.  We have added some friends over the year and there is really nothing that keeps us from meeting, other than a baby up all night, too much "fun" the night before, or vacation.  Being the oldest gal there, I try to keep up with these 20 somethings, but it doesn't always work out.  However, I had a 20 something tell me this morning that if I can move to the 8 lbs. weights, she is not going to let someone her mom's age out do her.  See, I can push these young "whipper-snappers" too.

Unbelievable School Spirit!

On Friday night, Jeff and I attended the Gardner High School football game.  Never before have we experienced a high school football game with so much team spirit.  Not only was everyone dressed in blue, but we even saw adults with their hair painted blue, oh, and one was a co-worker of Jeff's, ha,ha.  There were 230 elementary school girls there to cheer along with the cheerleaders for the 1st quarter and they were all sporting their "Raise Her a Blazer" t-shirts. Before you entered the stadium there was the booster club selling Gardner Blazer gear, 50/50 tickets, and thunder sticks.  Okay, then you enter the stadium. You can't help but notice the large blowup in one of the end-zones.  As the excitement of the game heightens, you see the team start to enter the field, but before they do they all fit inside the blowup and   as smoke starts to billow out of the large football helmet the teams bursts out.  It was the best team entrance that I have ever seen at a high school game.  If you want to get the experience of a small town totally behind their football team check out a home Garden High School game. 

What a Beautiful Day!

I am not sure you could have a better day in Kansas.  First of all, the day zoomed by me as I was very busy in my studio.  With January being so slow, I had started thinking of other ways to bring in income and now February has more than made up for the shortfall.  I barely even noticed that the day was so great outside.  I came upstairs around 2:00 pm with my stomach screaming for lunch when I decided I would work until 5:00 pm and then go for a run at a park near our house.   The lake at the park was like glass, seriously, you could see a perfect reflection in the water.  It is not often that there is no wind here in the prairie state of Kansas.  Not only that, I don't often run in that park because the wind can practically stop me in my tracks, but today was awesome and to top it off God provided a beautiful pink sunset.  I think it was just for me.  

Jingle All The Way

The girls and I along with our good friend, Sheri, ran in the Jingle Bell Run.  Wow, it was cold to start with but after a couple of minutes you warm up pretty fast.    We had all these grand ideas to run with reindeer antlers, Santa hats, etc. but when it came right down to it they just got in our way.  We did go with the bells on our shoes though and I had Christmas music playing on my iPod too.  Lindsey, the little stinker, led the way, followed closely by Sheri, with Anna and I pulling up the rear.  What a great way to get in the spirit of things.

KC 1/2 Marathon

Saturday was the big day that I had been training for since July.  The day was perfect for the race and the temperature was great.  The picture of Sheri and I running together only lasted until the 3 mile mark where Sheri went on ahead to finish about 15 minuets ahead of me.  I accomplished my goal and I finished the long 13.1 miles.  Now, I will admit that I did walk a couple of times after the 8 mile mark.  After Ryan finished the race, he waited about 40 minutes before running the last half mile with me.  You gotta love a son that will help his Mom accomplish her goal.

Wake Boarding Thrill?

Last night after work we went with some friends to Hillsdale Lake to try our luck at wake boarding.  The picture here is not any of us in case you were wondering.  I actually got up on the first try, however, I have no idea to how to make the board go where I wanted it to.  So if the board was going outside the wake, that is where I went.  I tried to gain control but had no screaming idea how to steer the crazy thing.  I was pretty excited that I was even able to get up and experience the speed and thrill of it.  Today, I am not sure the speed and thrill were worth the sore muscles.  Isn't that the way it is with a lot of things in life?  The momentary thrill is not always worth the future consequences.