Just some fun photos from the race at Nike today. Ran the 5K in 29.05 minutes and came in 76th. It was HOT! Yikes. And I am not use to running in the morning but Mike was waiting for me at the finish line and it was very fun. 
After the race.
I feel goofy carrying my camera everywhere I go to capture the moments. So often I leave it at home. But this past weekend we had some uncaptured special moments. We brought yummy pinwheel pastries to our friends Jim and Elena who recently had there 1st baby, Maywen. It is always so special to get to hold little precious newborns. Saturday afternoon my mom came over and helped me with my sewing machine. I’ve wanted to make covers for the cushions on my patio furniture. I am not a natural seamstress. More like seam “stress”. Of course, I was doing great until she left. Then my needle broke and I sat crying like a baby over the fact that I couldn’t figure out who to fix the silly machine. Saturday night we went to the house of one of Mike’s culinary colleagues to sample his cuisine. The guy is a beer brewer, so we tried all of his home brewed beers. Mixed crowd I have to say. But the beer was fairly fabulous. One tasted like Pinot Noir another like espresso. There was a hot tub, inside, that was the size of a small pool. I could fit 25 people. Needless to say, we soaked until midnight. 
On Sunday some old wonderful friends of mine from grade school and high school came over to BBQ. I normally don't see Jess or Sandy more than once a year. Fun times - catching up. Gotta love that. (left, Jess Strickland, Sheena Blevins, Sandy King) Nice to see you guys.
I also made a new friend this weekend. A little tree frog that was sitting in my chair, pressed up agaist my back for a hour before I felt him back there and discovered that he'd been crouched in between the pillows hidding. I let him go in my herb garden.
This is a crazy story. I have to share. When we moved into our neighborhood 2 years ago there were very few kids. And never would anything like THIS…have happened. Over the past 9 months several houses have sold and new neighbors have moved in. They all seem to have kids. These kids play right in the intersection between where our house meets the adjacent street (we are on the end of the street), the place I call the "T". They ride their ghost rider bikes, trikes and little skateboards at the "T". The kids are all between 4-10 years old – pretty little. Our driveway is “the best driveway in the neighborhood” as the little kids have told me because “it has the biggest ‘slope’ and is the best for gaining speed and riding into the "T". (meanwhile, rarely do parents watch there kids or watch for cars that might come speeding around the corner into the "T" and smash their kids into a thousand pieces!!!) I digress…
So, The Bane is the kids. I can almost handle the thought that one day, one will get hit when a parent is not around. (Did I say that?) The Beauty is my wonderful peonies that grow to be around 3 feet tall and produce the most beautiful big pink flowers every June. This year the bush that sits down near the street (and unfortunately near the "T") had grown bigger than ever before. The buds, before they bloomed where huge. Tempting? I guess. Especially, if you want to have a grenade war with peonies. YOU SEE WHERE THINGS ARE GOING!
Last Saturday, when we conveniently weren’t around there was a party in The "T". Sidewalk chalk (better known in our neighborhood as “middle of the street chalk”), popsicle sticks and many of peony buds where left as proof of the party. They must have picked the peony buds off and launched them at each other for a few minutes before they got caught. When I saw this I was FURIOUS! But what could I do. I could not prove who did what.
SO – when my mom was over the next day she put a little sign on the peonies that said “DON”T PICK”. But I said, “Mom, these kids don’t all read”. And the sign was gone a few days later. SO – I went out and cut the peonies off and made the huge bouquet. At least now I will be able to enjoy them without the worry that they will get terrorized by the neighborhood hoodlums.
This feeds my fire about wanting to be a good “watchful” parent but fearing the possibility…of wild hoodlums in my house some day. (BIG SMILE) Also addressed in my new blog Watching for Shooting Stars.
At the end of the summer, I am moving that peony bush!
"The T"
Just to get away this past weekend, Mike and I took off for my folk’s beach house last minute. My parents and my grandpa went too. Mike cooked some fabulous comfort foods like shrimp and linguini, bouillabaisse, crepes with bananas, French onion soup with roast beef sandwiches and eggs Benedict. We took long walks to make sure that all that food didn't stick to our ribs. And we flew a rainbow kite!
