#29

The final Myron Bolitar (at least for now)...I hate it when I catch up to an author.  I have to wait until they write another book, not whenever I decide to read it.  Control issues, I know!  #29 on the year is Harlan Coben's Long Lost.  This may be my favorite Bolitar.  It had twists and turns (that I really had to pay attention to.)  I don't understand why Coben makes it impossible for Myron to have a stable relationship with a woman...  There were some pretty disturbing issues dealt with in this story...Homeland Security and the power they have to protect the "greater good."  It's pretty terrifying to think about the reality of people trying to kill ~ to terrorize ~ because they think their God demands it.    fl: “You don’t know her secret, “ Win said to me. ll: and though he wears a heavy backpack, he walks into the crowd with his head held high, his shoulders back, and his posture perfect.

Rabbit Run

The Barton family made its debut as a running family early this morning, in the frost, while we could see our breath.  The first Rabbit Run took off just after sunrise and we all did very well.  Mike finished 2nd in his age group, 17th overall with a time of 21:37.  Patrick was 18th overall (with a major sprint to try to catch his father) with a time of 21:58.  Jacob finished with a time of 24:32, (amazing for his first 5K) beating one of his XC team members who usually placed well ahead of him.  And I'm going to brag a little here.  I finished third in my family, but I came home with the biggest trophy.  I came in 20th overall with a PR of 22:45 (YEA), but the best was that I was SECOND overall female!  Beaten only by the teacher who shares my room, fellow MUC graduate and ADPi sister, Kelly Kirchner, who finished in 19:something. (not beating her 24 year-old self)
I got a trophy and two tickets to any Rabbit Run production in the 2012 season.  Pretty Cool.  I think you can tell by the smile on my goofy face how excited I was!

snakes & me

Just so you know, I don't really mind snakes.  I will jump when I see one because they just appear and surprise me, not because I'm afraid.  I won't pick one up or have one as a pet, but I do think they are pretty cool to look at.

And now the snakes in my life lately.  A week ago I went on my run and when I started down rt 84 I noticed a dead snake just to the right of the white line.  It was a little snake, maybe three or four inches long, and it was squished dead.  A foot or so later, I see another little snake squished dead.  Then I see another, and another, and another...there was over a mile of little dead snakes all along 84.  Mass suicide?  Murder of caged pets?  It was almost if they had been placed there...except they were all squished dead.  Very, very strange.

That was my first encounter ~ and it was strange.  My second encounter was gross.  Sunday we went riding on the towpath to Peninsula.  We were casually riding along (at about 5 miles per hour).  Jen was leading and I was second.  Just about the time I hear the squeal, I see a snake roll out from under Jen's back tire.  There is nothing I can do.  I'm right there.  I watch as my front tire runs over this coiled, writhing snake.  It was so GROSS.  Of course I squeal too (and they said I flapped my hands...yea, probably did that).  The back of the pack said they watched it slither off the side of the path, so they all think it was alive, but HOW could it be?  Jen RAN it over and I RAN it over.  There he was, just sunning himself on a beautiful fall day and we come along and squish him.  I felt gross and horrible at the same time. 

Hopefully that's the last snake story for a while...

Mike, Matt, Me, Kimi, Jen, Craig ~ towpath bike ride

#28

Book #28 on the year is What looks like Crazy on an ordinary day...  by Pearl Cleage.  First I have to say I LOVE the name Pearl.  It conjures up the best image in my head ~ and the reality of how the author looks makes the name so quirky and charming.  This book was good.  So far from my "world" ~ yet, not that far.  People are people, black or white ~ and the craziness of the minister's wife (and the minister) made the craziness at my church last year seem not-quite-as-crazy.  I do find it interesting that Pearl portrayed the people "of God" as the ones so far from the Love of God ~ and mixed with what I've seen lately in my own church, I can see why she would promote that theme.  Sometimes thinking you KNOW all there is to know is more dangerous than thinking you know nothing.  And when I think of God, I bet I know far less than there actually IS to Him.  I just hope I'm doing more good in the world than harm...and learning the lessons.

fl: I'm sitting at the bar in the airport, minding my own business, trying to get psyched up for my flight, and I made the mistake of listening to one of those TV talk shows.  ll: And we danced too wild, and we sang too long, and we hugged too hard, and kissed too sweet, and thew back our heads and howled just as loud as we wanted to howl, because by now we were all old enough to know that what looks like crazy on an ordinary day looks a lot like love if you catch it in the moonlight.

Safari Adventure

The Bartons went on Safari today...Africa and back all before the Browns game.  I also used my first Groupon ~ got four tickets to the African Safari Adventure in Port Clinton, Ohio for $5.  It cost 15 times that in gas for the trip and 3 times that for breakfast at McDonald's.  We also bought a $4 bag of carrots to feed the animals. ~ Should have brought our own carrots ~ one bag was not enough!  And the cup of food they gave you at the gate was stolen from our hand by the first animal.

Thought it might be a bust of a trip, but it was actually pretty cool.  The animals surrounded our car and were not afraid to stick their heads right in.  The buffalo whose head was as big as the window, was a little intimidating.  The deer who walked along beside us, were very friendly.  The giraffe through the sun roof was really amazing.

homecoming 2011

After pictures they went to Arby's for appies, Wendy's for the meal, and then McDonald's for ice cream cones.  These two know how to have a good time!
I was told the dance was fun ~ I even creepered on facebook and saw some kid pictures of these two dancing. 
It's heartwarming to see your kid all dressed up and ready to do the things that teenagers do.  He's a great kid, if I do say so myself :)

leaves

The leaves on my trees are changing.

Such different colors make my yard

like a box of bold colored crayons.

In a short time they will start to fall.

Left alone they will cover my yard

like a blanket of snow.

But Mike is prepared

with a brand new leaf blower

shipped on Friday.

He is excited for leaves to drop.

peaceful

the sun shining through

the crunch of fall leaves

the smell of woods

a peaceful path

Filled with 30 middle school cross country runners as they ran the loop four times ~ passing people and their dogs ~ passing people and their children.  Breathing hard and laughing.  A great day of practice at Hog Back Ridge.  But I'm not so sure the others got their peaceful walk!

#27

#27 is a Read 180 book that I read because one of my students couldn't understand one of the questions being asked of her, and I didn't know the story enough to help.  Turns out the question was messed up and asked about Uncle Wong ~ the Uncle's name is Uncle Fong...way to go Scholastic.  Anyway, The Magic Paintbrush by Laurence Yep is a cute little tale about a poor Chinese family ~ Grandfather, Grandson, and Uncle (who's just a friend of Grandfather's).  They discover a magic paintbrush (hence the name) that brings to life whatever it paints.  Of course the mean, greedy landlord discovered the paintbrush and wishes for riches that end of being the path to unhappiness.  A great tale of what is really important in life.  Every student I've had read it loves it.

Great Quote:  page 63, "Mr. Blue smiled politely.  "Little sir, magic cannot be tamed.  Magic is like Nature.  Can you control the rain?  And do you blame it when it gets you wet and you catch cold?  And yet does that same rain help your crops to grow and feed you?

fl: Steve sat in the school yard long after school was over.  ll: He couldn't wait either.

Run Log: September 2011

A great race this month.  I still can't believe we placed 18th out of 164 teams.  That is CrAzY!  There is a picture of me (for purchase) that shows my thighs so cut ~ amazing that I have such defined thigh muscles.  Now when I run I like to look down and picture that photo ~ because when I look down I see that fat on the inside of my leg jiggling like jello...  I would purchase that photo ~ except that my face is all contorted.  I'm not really a pretty runner ~ you can tell that I'm working pretty hard to keep on truckin'.  But I'll be all cocky and big-headed about my muscular legs!
For the month of September I didn't log a lot of miles ~ but I did run a 9 and race an 8.  I'm hoping that once CC ends I'm able to get into a good routine of running 15 - 20 miles each week.  We're signing up for a 5k in October and another on Thanksgiving day.  So there's some motivation to go.  Mike really wants to run the Cleveland half in May.  I haven't made up my mind yet...
The final number for September:
I ran 56 miles and biked 16
2011 totals:
I've run 396.5 miles and biked 370