1yr Online

So I realized the other day that we passed our 1st Blogging anniversary. Apr. 6 2007 was our debut
and can you believe it's been that long already?
My friend showed me this link on a friend of a friend of a friends blog, and I think I'm going to try
it. But if any of you actually get around to trying it before me ('cause we all know I'm more than a
bit of a procrastinator) let me know what you think. It's a company that takes your blogs and
prints and binds them into a book. So much for thescrap-bookers. :)

http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook?tag=3_sf

-and they use the word 'slurped' in their headline; what is this world coming too? They must be
Generation Xers.

World of Competitive Geography

Our Chickadee had a great time at her Geography Bee. Her and I got to go up the night before and stay in a hotel, and have treats, braid hair, and watch lots of How It's Made on cable! She represented herself extremely well during the competition and enjoyed her experience. She's planning a return next year! Go get 'em!

(The picture is of her and some other kids from schools nearby.)





Of 100 possible participants, only 96 competed, 20 were girls, <10 were 4th graders. The first round of questioning attempts to thin out the field to 10 students, but usually there is a tie-breaker round before the final round. Chickadee answered 6 of 8 questions correctly, but failed to make it to the final or tie-breaker rounds. But what an experience! You go girl! Well Done!

(This picture shows the first round scores. The girl who answered 7 correctly made it to the tie-breaker round, but we don't know how she did beyond that.)

Adults!

Since I've been playing the married-but-single parent game for a bit now, I sure appreciate it when I get some help. I have a crew of loyal local friends who regularly bail me out of a pile of dishes, laundry, or take me out to play. They are true staffs to lean on. I 'm so grateful to have them!

I've also been treated to a few visitors from out of town who have come to help out. First, our favorite GI Joe Uncle returned from a 15 month deployment in late January. He came for a week last month and helped us clean up our horribly trashed backyard. He also built us some benches, and hung out, worked out, and wrestled with the kids. What a guy!


Our other distinguished visitor was my 'sister' and her son. They came to spend a week and distract my girls on their spring break with all of the little guys grand cuteness! We played and hung out and walked the baby, and had a grand old time.

Plus while Sis took the kids to the park, I got my garage put back together! For months my would-be attic storage has been living in my garage, and even seeped into the kitchen. Left over Christmas stuff that was missed, winter coats, winter clothes, easter stuff, shoes, boots, you name it. But now it's all back where it should be, and I've reclaimed my entire kitchen floor.

We had a really fun visit. Perfect for an at-home spring break!
Thank you you guys for coming down! We love you.

And thank you to those who can't make it down to visit, but who call to check up on us. All adult conversation is welcome, even if we mostly talk about kids. :) We're grateful to everyone who's watching out and praying for us. Love to all, Happy Spring!

Puzzles and General Conference

Those of you who belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints know that last weekend was our General Conference. Well, I only caught the last half of the first Saturday session cause I had a friend arriving from out of town to visit me. (More on that later.)

Well this weekend, as it so happens, was our Stake Conference, and our stake center is about an hour away, which is usually no big deal, but I was being a bit of a whiner about it and then I ended up getting sick anyway, so we didn't go. -Instead...I had a marathon day of listing to 8 hours of General Conference from last weekend online. (Technology is cool.) I worked a puzzle, and let the kids go in and out and we took breaks for meals and such.

Among the many things I gained from this experience was a puzzle/life analogy. OK

We are trying to put our lives in order. the puzzle
We are doing some things well. the pieces we already have put together
We have a lot to fit in, and it looks overwhelming, and like it won't all fit. the scattered peices
But... We have the Savriors example, scriptures, and prophets, and prayer, etc to guide us. the puzzle cheater key

It's a loose analogy, but Conference has a way of making you feel good about what you're doing and pointing our what else you need to work on. This Conference was exceptional, I'm so glad I made it a point to listen. Can't wait 'til it comes out in print.

2 Gu, a protien bar, and lots of oranges later...

Well, I did it! And...I liked it! Who'd have guessed?
The Bataan Memorial Death March

I can't believe it's me saying that, but it was cool! I'd do it again. Or a different one.
(When's the next race?)

I did the first 10 miles with a lady from my town that I met in line for the bathrooms. (Races can be like that.) So that was nice, but she had only trained up to 8 miles, and had never run further than 3 in a race, so pushing her to 10 was fun. Unfortunately, after that, I mostly had my iPod for company. (I love my little iPod!) Miles 15-18 were crappy. I took a 10+ min rest at 18 and changed my socks, drained a blister with the safety pin from my bib number, and taped up my feet a bit. That was really helpful.

While running, there was always someone nearby, always someone just slow enough that I figured I could catch, and for the most part I caught all my "rabbits". (If you can call teams of military personnel in full uniform and boots with fully loaded rucksacks rabbits. Yes, I'm that slow.)

There were plenty of porta-potties, water, Gatorade, and oranges!

Miles 23-25 were stinky too, and the mile+ of loose sand was just plain mean. It was great to finish, and the sports massage afterward was icing on the cake.

The whole history and purpose of the event is moving. (Click the history at the top of the page at http://www.bataanmarch.com/.) The Bataan Veterans were incredibly sweet grandpas, aka: Tough Old Coots. Their stories from the actual 1942 Death March are incredible. I was sure to shake their spouses hands as well, 'cause many of them went through it in their own way too.

Anyway, Maybe long runs of this sort leave a longer 'runners high', and I just havn't crashed yet. I expect I'll return to my senses shortly, and retract my statement of repeat marathons, but you never can tell.

Today I'm not so sore, but stiff and achy and my feet hurt to walk barefoot, so I've been wearing sneakers instead of sandals all day. (That's really hard to do in these parts, with our 80 degree weather.)

The picture is of my once grey shoes, now brown. These shoes were only worn three times before (~25 miles) and looked pretty new until yesterday. This picture is AFTER I shook off all the sand and knocked them around a bit. It's also the only picture I have to help me tell my tale, as my friend and I both forgot our cameras. (I tell ya, Mom brains! The kids stole most of our brain cells and now they continually distract us from using the ones we have left.)

Anyhow, great race! Come join us next year. (Yes, it's on a Sunday, call me for the disclaimer.)

Now I get to sit around and eat bon-bons 'til my hubby comes home. :)

A Little Geography Anyone?

Next week Chickadee is participating in the state geography bee.


In our research for study aids we ran across this website.

http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=geography&cdn=education&tm=55&f=00&su=p504.1.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/

It has a short 10 question geography quiz each day. And you can repeat the quiz from a couple days before in order to study more, or if you miss a day. It's fun! Fun! And Hard! I usually get a 6/10, and that's with a globe on the desk next to me! Chickadee does better though, she's very excited about the competition. I'll try to get few pictures up afterward. There is also a link listed in the 'Useful? websites' section on the right hand side of our blog. -Along with the run-planning website, have you tried it yet?...it's fun too...

Other Outstanding Outings

Dinosaur Fieldtrip

White Sands!


(I don't know why this looks underwater, wierd)