here we go Brownies!

This past week has been pretty cold.  We had our first frosty weather & lots of wind and rain forecasted for today.  So?  Well today we had Cottage's Btowns tickets.  What 'cha gonna do?  That's right.  Wake up early and be in the muni lot by 8:00 am.  When I rolled out of bed this morning, dark & early, it was 65 degrees.  Not too shabby.  The sun rose and the warmth continued.  By the time we got to the stadium, it was sunny.  And the BROWNS WON.  The best sign I saw said "11 & 5 starts today"
We went with Clem and Clem's wife, Clem's wife.  The best part of that is Clem's wife couldn't remember Mike's name!  She said, "What's Becky's husband's name?, Becky's husband?"  
The muni lot is such an experience.  I can't even describe it (specially on my kindle) I don't know how people do it week in and week out.  I'm exhausted.

#28

The last free book I could get from Amazon Prime (and my free one month subscription) is #28 Broken Wings by Alexandrea Weis.  A predictable little romance about a wildlife rehabber & a Iraq war veteran with the arrogant asshole lawyer ex-husband causing all sorts of drama.  {make me gag}  Not my favorite brainless little romance novel ~ It even had a few grammar errors:  The most glaring to me was this doosie of a sentence:
p112 ~ So they buy you things; clothes, shoes, condo's...  {WHAT!  since WHEN do we use apostrophes to make words plural? ~ where is the editor?}
I did like this description of one of the characters: p 13 ~ ...and all around arranger of everything impossible. {I know a few people like that!}
p 50: a cool word:

fl: Drab gray clouds covered the expansive horizon, obliterating the warmth of the sun. ll: It's time to let her have her chance to spread her wings and try to touch the sky.

Oh Say Can You See?

Playing the solo {or duet in this case} for the National Anthem.  

Almost a HORRIBLE parent moment.  It was raining...was supposed to be raining all night.  Mike & I asked the kids if they would be upset if we didn't go to the game that night.  In the past they haven't marched on the field when it's been raining. {Can't mess up the field for the football team.}.  They both said that would be fine.

We went to the high school for the annual teacher's tailgate party and ate dinner.  It wasn't really raining so I ran down to the band room to ask if they were marching or not.  Thank goodness Kristy said they were going out there ~ because that made me decide to go to the game.  We walked over to watch pregame & heard, "Please rise for the playing and singing {the choir was there} of our National Anthem.  Tonight's trumpet solo will be preformed by seniors Patrick Barton and Adam Poulsin."  

We both just turned to look at each other, not believing we almost missed this event.  And I have to add, there were tears in our eyes.  This ride of raising Patrick has gone so fast.  So proud of who he is becoming.

#27

My first book on my Kindle Fire ~ #27 Still Waters by Misha Crews.  It was a free one with my free month subscription to Amazon Prime...{and I've orders two separate things just so I could take advantage of the free Amazon Prime Shipping...I don't know if I'll continue the subscription.  The free video is the best feature, but I really won't use $80 of it a year}ANYWAY.  Good book.  The characters were really interesting, as all people really are.  I enjoyed the study of what makes each one tick...and the secrets, oh the secrets.  And Frank, who I didn't want to like, who was really the mystery, turned out to be a sad, scared, and very hurt good guy.
Lot's of quotes since I really like the highlight & bookmark features of my Kindle! (put no page #'s, only locations...which mean not much.  I'll include the chapters)
ch2 ~ Routine equals control.  {oh how very very true, my OCD self, friends & family}
PART 2: LIFE  "If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden." --Frances Hodgson Burnett
ch8 ~ ...the "can-do" attitude of the Seabees.  The difficult we do at once.  The impossible takes a bit longer.
ch8 ~ vocabulary word ~ gamine: meaning: a girl with mischievous or boyish charm
ch13 ~ When I was younger, I used to sometimes get confused between the words 'fidelity' and 'integrity.'  But then Lucien explained to me that 'fidelity' comes from Latin word fidelitas, which means faithful.  And 'integrity' comes from the Latin word integritas, which means whole.  That's when I finally understood that in order to have integrity, one must maintain wholeness.
ch21 ~ "We live in dangerous times, Jenna."  His voice was low ans fervent.  "If you want to find happiness, you have to first find the things that make you feel safe. Grab them tight, and never let go."
ch22 ~ cool word:

ch27 ~ But she couldn't change what had happened.  There was nowhere to go but forward.  {great advice!}
ch28 ~ "In times of trouble, my grandmother used to say, 'Pray to God, but row for shore.'"  Then she'd gripped Jenna's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye.  "Faith plus action. It will be difficult, but you will get there.  When you feel like giving up, have faith and keep rowing."
Part Three: Afterlife:  "All changes, even the most longed for, ahve their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." --Anatole France
Epilogue: {great phrase} harmonious cacophony

#2 scores

in a 12 nothing romp...JB scores his first Varsity Soccer Goal! In Tuesday's game (10/2) over Lakeside. Courtesy of the News-Herald:

And so ends his varsity season.

2 things

#1 ~ yesterday we went to the Haunted Winery and Corn Maze...that opened this weekend just around the corner.  Let me say that this is no rinky-dink undertaking.  These people have put time, effort and money into this little enterprise.  Everything was well built, well thought out and enjoyable.  We did not go into the haunted winery, as we live in a house that we all {silently}consider haunted & don't want to risk upsetting our spirits by bringing unsavory haunted feelings home with us.  I don't know if that's how the rest of the family feels...but that's pretty much where Mike stands & I pretty much agree with him.  The kids went into the corn maze.  Without the clues, they said it would have been easy to get lost, but the clues make it so you can find your way through.  They did give the kids a bamboo pole with a red cloth attached that they could raise up & wave if they got into trouble.  My only negative is that it is $10 a ticket.  I paid for the kids & not for me & Mike.  Had it been $5 to $6 a person, I would have paid for all of us.  That's pretty steep a price for a half hour of walking through a corn maze.
#2 ~ I felt it necessary to find the other half of the white trail tonight at Camp Stig.  Mike & I marked the course for our meet tomorrow and he left {couldn't talk him into running the trails with me}.  I set out and right away found the east entrance.  And I ran.  And ran.  And ran.  Up and Down and over the creek and up and down.  And finally 1.78 miles in {as it's getting darker and darker in the woods} I lost the white marks.  I turned it around and got out of there.  Took me 44 minutes to run 4 miles!  I would have enjoyed it more had I been able to join up with the trail I knew...and if I'd been with someone {I kept thinking about about the bear that was lurking around... or the sasquatsh...or the skunk}I did get out without harm ~ 'cept for the twisted ankle ~ The map on my watch showed that I was really close to circling back to myself...but I was up & could not find the trail back down.  I'll have to adventure another day.
Two things to do.  Find how the blue trail meets the white trail & how the white trail is one continuous trail ~ because I'm not seeing it! {I tried to cut and paste the map...but I am unable.}

Run Log: September 2012

And I almost doubled August's totals.  That's working {slowly} in the right direction.  The EXCELLENT news is that I ran 11 miles this past week (not at one time) ~ on pavement (and treadmill)~ and with Alleve, my foot is FINE.  AMEN, HALLELUJAH!  I will continue to take it easy.  My plan is to run 3 days a week, keeping it at 3's & 4's until my calves aren't the big knots that they are at this moment.  I will be a runner again.  I will.  I will.

September's totals:
34.5 miles for the month 
482 miles for the year
24.5 biking miles for the month
347.5 biking miles for the year
284.5 miles in my soon-to-be-retired-worn-at-Camp-Stigwandish red & blue Asics
24 miles in my still shiny VERY WHITE turquoise Asics ~ now 3 months old :)  But, I hope to report they are not as shiny white next month.
Some interesting facts:
Longest run this month: 4 miles {working in the right direction!}
Favorite place to run this month: "Hey, Coach, is there any place we haven't run here at Camp Stig?"  "Sure, let's go on an adventure."  And so began the finding of the BLUE TRAIL at Camp Stigwandish.  Not even on the MAP trail.  Nothing like leading 34 middle school cross country runners into the unknown!  We ran it until we could run it no more.  I'm pretty sure the rest of the trail was washed away.  We could find it no more down by the creek after climbing over lots of debris (and the skeletal remains of a deer ~ yuck).  It would eventually meet the White Trail below the rope, but we didn't press on, (as I wasn't completely sure where we were, and it was only 10 minutes until practice was over.)  Craziest run of the month!
# of bags of Candy Cane Kisses left in my cabinet: ZERO and they are not in the stores, yet {I'm sure it won't be long}  But I do have a bag of Babe Ruth candy bars, chocolate truffles, Peanut M&M's & a bag of macaroons.  Gotta love birthday treats!
# of books I read this month: Four!  {and now I can read them on my Kindle...I'm still deciding if I like it better than books ~ don't think I'll like it better than books, but there are some pluses to the Kindle}

Monthly mileage record: 80.5 miles March 2012
Highest mileage ever-at-one-time:  13.1 miles ~ May 16, 2010 (Cleveland 1/2) 


PR's:
5K: 22:45 (Rabbit Run 10/30/11~ but I think it was a short course)
10K: 52:02 (Cleveland 5/15/11)
10-miler: 1:21:29 (Hermes Cleveland 10-miler 4/28/12)
half-marathon: 1:55:04 (Cleveland 5/16/10)
marathon: 3:50:05 (Akron relay {team run} 9/24/11)