"Heartbeat" - The Fray

okay, so it's been a while.

So I thought I'd bore you with a few photos I've been storing up on my phone, until I find the right words to actually write a decent post.

A few are from Turkey Day [my favorite day of the year] and a few are just random photos that make me happy.

Like this photo Peanut took [when I thought she was reading] of me, doing dishes.

I love the photos she takes.

Peanut spent T-day Eve at my parent's place with her cousin.  Where.......... thanks to "pinterest" we were each lucky enough to receive one of these:

They had also made this:

which I freaking loved.

And since I had started my day off with a Turkey Day 20 . . .

I was sooooooooo ready for this stuffyourfacefest2011.

As always, my famous cookbook writing mom, put together an amazing feast.

So good, the Pita had to sleep for two hours and I got to go on a LONG walk with my brother-in-law "Buff".  [ya, freaking loved that]

We made it home just in time for this awesome sunset.

And even though the Pita doesn't see it.....I see my car in the clouds.

I. am. thankful.

freaking. thankful.

for a daughter that invited me to run club on Monday [but not so much today].
for a brother-in-law, I love to talk to.
for a mom, that's a freaking rock star.
for a loving Heavenly Father who knows what I can handle.
for bloggers who's friendships are unlike any other.
for friends with unlimited texting.
for a Dad that calls me "sweetie".
for laid-back, loving in-laws.
and
for a Pita who knows me this well . . .

Roxette.  Love.  Roxette.

Happy Wednesday.

See you in Vegas!!?!

"Super[iron]man" - Taylor Swift

IMAZ. [spectating edition]

loved. every. second.

The Peanut and I went yesterday.  I'm not super awesome at the whole finding a place to park thing or the road closure thing. 

Soooooooo we turned off the freeway. 
I saw runners.
We parked at a hotel and walked over.
Since I'm still battling out this awesome sickness that started Thursday night, I figured the fewer people I was around the better.

It. was. amazing.

I had three people I was looking out for:

Ron.
Aimee.
John.

Turns out we saw Aimee first.  Holy cow.  She looked amazing.  AMAZING.

Peanut & I were yelling like a bunch of crazies, "Aimee!! Aimee!!" [in my awesome I'm a closet chain smoker voice].  To my surprise she noticed us!
And. stopped. to. hug. us. both [?!?!]  Loved. That.

"And you must be Peanut!!" [hugging Peanut]

She ran off.

Peanut:  mom, she's awesome.
Me:  freaking awesome.

Then we moved over a few steps to the metal railing.

Peanut:  my feet hurt
Me:  ummmm, you're pretty much NOT allowed to complain about ANY thing when you are watching an IronMan. [wink, wink]

Peanut had made the awesomest sign.

People. freaking. loved. it.

"Go Random Person"

Brought out all sorts of smiles, laughs & comments from the athletes which was awesome.

Some of the comments:

*best.sign.all.day
*can I be your random person?
*now, that is awesome
*can I tape that on my bike [Peanut said, no]
*thank you for having that sign
*having that sign at the top of this hill rocks
*that makes me smile

[Peanut was one happy camper]

I was so happy she came with me.  I loved seeing her watch all the incredible athletes.
I loved seeing her face.

Especially when we saw these two individuals.

She was speechless.

Well until about 2 minutes after each of them passed and she said . . . .

"Mom, I bet someone told them they'd never be able to run again."
"I guess, I should never say I can't run a 10k."

I loved our location.
It was at the top of a short [hehehe hill].
You'd see it all.

People who saw the hill and . . . .

powered up
walked
smiled
grimaced
pumped their arms
clapped
gasped
yelled out to the crowd

a w e s o m e.

Then, the moment had arrived.

I. saw. him.

him.

RON!

Only [sarcmarc] Mr. PRR himself.

We rang our cowbells like crazy people.
Peanut hurried and flipped her sign over to "GO PUNKY!"
And I tried to act as normal as I could............what ever.
We freaking screamed at the top of our lungs!

Then, I seriously ditched my phone, my bell & my knowledge of IM rules to my girl and ran off with him.     In flip-flops.

Best. 100.  steps.  ever.

So impressed.
So amazed.
So must do this.

You guys are incredible.

You. freaking. rock.

"Price Tag" - Jessie J feat B.o.B.

No secret.

My family rocks.

I have a special little place in my heart for "buff".  Always have.  Even when my sister wasn't sure he was "the one".  I knew, he was.

Today I am reposting one of his posts.

He and my sweet sister have five children.  One of which has autism. 

In his words, ....."together we ride the E-Ticket roller coaster world of special needs and smile (for the most part) while holding on for dear life."

Enjoy:

The Price We Pay For Happiness...

The telephone rang, breaking the monotonous sound of the steamer, as my wife scrubbed the kitchen floor. She picked up the receiver and politely replied, 'Hello.'

'This is Visa, we are calling regarding some questionable activity on your account. We see that you have several closely timed iTunes purchases occurring, that seemed quite large, and rather questionable. Have you recently made any purchases on iTunes?'

'I don't think so...' my wife answered, thinking of any recent receipts that we may have received in an email.

The voice in the phone proceeded, '...two purchases were authorized, and a third was declined because it appeared suspicious.'

Just then Emma was heard shouting from upstairs, 'Mom, Ethan's downloading a bunch of movies on iTunes!'

'Oh, my gosh,' my wife shouted as she ran up the stairs with phone in hand. Arriving at the computer there was Ethan squatting on the chair, calm as he could be, intently reading the images on the screen.

'Mom, I bought a movie on iTunes!' he said proudly.

My wife returned to the voice on the phone and said, 'I'm sorry, my son apparently got on the computer and was downloading them. He has autism, I don't now how he figured this out. Ugh! I'm so sorry.'

'No problem, we recognized it as suspicious and just wanted to confirm. Again we declined payment on the last purchase. You may want to call Apple and explain this and see what they can do for you.'

'Thank you, Oh my gosh, again, I'm so sorry.' She then hung up and called me. I wasn't able to talk, but quickly understood her brief explanation. 'I'll take care of it when I get home,' I said and we quickly hung up.

When I arrived home I walked upstairs to the computer and checked the iTunes history. There they were the three purchases. Two showed paid in full the last showed declined. I checked on the computer and saw that we had indeed downloaded those movies so I reauthorized the purchase.

I walked in to where Ethan was and asked, 'Hey buddy, what happened?'

'Dad, did you see it?' he said proudly. He stood up, his feet spread apart, placed his hands on his hips then broke out in a giant grim, said 'Hey Dad!' and raised his eyebrows up and down in unison. It looked something like this . . .

This was his famous 'I'm proud of myself' pose! After striking the pose, his young-man-voice crackled and screeched, 'I bought movies on iTunes!'

'Yes, you did,' as I smiled and simply walked away.

What else could I say? Anything would have dashed his pride, and besides that it wasn't like he hurt somebody. Besides we can change the password, and make sure this doesn't happen again, but I just couldn't harm this proud moment in his life. He, on his own, had bought movies - and not just any movies, good movies, including some classics.

I didn't have the heart to be mad.

Some days happiness seems expensive, like when he cut the tips off all the cell phone chargers, other times it requires deep pressure hug therapy, or a few yoga poses. Then there are those days it is simply free!

So, what was the price we paid for happiness today?

$122.62 (tax included)

 

 

 

"Secret" - Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark

"Hey," he said, predictably from the other end.

"Hey," I replied.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Therapy," I answered. Through the distance between us, I sensed his nervousness. He was silent, unsure how to respond to his wife, who'd just confessed to a mid-day, self-induced, therapy session. Was this a sensitivity test? A trap? A breakdown? A threat?

"What?" he asked, trying to buy more time to secure the right response.

"Therapy," I repeated. Then, because I'm a nice wife who never (by never, I mean, always) does secret, hypothetical, manipulative, emotional tests on her husband, I let him off the hook with a simple explanation.

The past week has not been some of my favorite. (Although, Halloween definitely was.) One sore ankle. An unwelcoming smell of crap on my lawn. Spending $300 on running shoes. And $100 on a pair of super FLAT shoes.  One sore ankle. The sound of a BB gun repeatedly going off in my house. One sore ankle. A dog puking like a sorority girl. Chapped lips. A treadmill that calls my name in the night. A broken ice maker. Not enough laundry. And one very, sore ankle.

So Peanut at school, a dog that was shut in the bathroom and work that could wait an hour or two. I had alone time. Put my phone on silent.  Time alone with my  grump/slumpy self.

I cranked up Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark (don‘t judge), unloaded my fridge onto my counter, tied up my apron and got to work. With all the angst of my unsettled soul, I mashed bananas, scooped cocoa, marinated chicken breasts, squeezed lemons, beat eggs, mixed in cinnamon, roasted peppers, sprinkled salt, sliced sweet potatoes, whipped butter and zested lemons. I made a mess. I teared up [without any onions present]. And spilled. And grated my finger. And broke a sweat.

Sigh.

That felt good. Not 20 miles good. But. Really good.

I bought yet another pair of running shoes. The dog stopped puking. I bought some chapstick. My ice maker has been resurrected in the nick of [winter] time. My lawn is starting to sprout little green blades in among all the smelly crap. I’m pretty sure my grumpy ankle actually smiled a little at me a little after my swim. And my husband, still scared for his life, offered to rub my ankle [until it feels better].

What a guy.

He definitely passed the "What-To-Do-When-You're-Wife-Has-A-Mental-Breakdown-From-A-Bung-Ankle" test.

Maybe next week when he calls, and asks what I'm up to, I'll test him again with the old "I'm having a breakdown because my NordicTrack sucks and I need a new Woodway Treadmill..."

"Good Life" - One Republic

Love my family.

freaking. love. my. family.

To see our family tradition on Halloween ---- click [here]. And maybe [here].

Halloween is in the top four of my favorite days of the year.

Best. Night. Ever.

Here it is . . . .

in photos.

I so freaking loved this Ang.
Made. My. day.

Just wish my brother would have let you come with the "23.6" sign you made before he informed you of the extra 2.6 miles you were missing.

My sister rocked her Mary Poppins.

And the Pita rocked the Spudnuts.

Love. My. Family.