My, Oh, My. That's what I have to say about the passing of Dave Niehaus. He leaves a huge hole, and the sounds of the Mariners will be very different this coming Spring. I can't imagine listening to a game without his voice.
Beth's birthday was a blast and a half. Ten has certainly been good to her so far! We had a very energetic sleep-over on Friday night. (Who labeled these things SLEEP-overs?? There's not a lot of sleeping involved. How about STAY-overs? Or LAY-YOUR-SLEEPING-BAG-ON-MY-FLOOR-AND-STAY-UP-UNTIL-THE-WEE-HOURS-GIGGLING-AND-SINGING-DYNAMITE-OVER-AND-OVER-AND-OVER-over??) Nah. It was all great. After pizza, we were off to see "Secretariat". Great movie. Brenna and I sat in the row right behind all the girls, and at one point I was worried that they weren't going to like it, basically because I was liking it so much. But as soon as the movie ended, they all turned around with wide eyes and said, "That was SO good!!" Sweet girls.
As soon as they were all claimed by their own parents the next morning, we set off for Ikea to shop for a new dresser for Beth. We are re-doing her bedroom for her birthday, and she needs a smaller dresser as a part of this. It was a crazy busy day at Ikea, and we were the shmucks weaving our way against the current trying to make our way to the right department. If you've shopped Ikea, you know exactly what we looked like. If you haven't, you must experience it soon. After picking out the dresser and other fun things, we, of course, sat down for a delicious meal of Swedish meatballs. I do love those. I hadn't been there since they switched to mashed potatoes...delicious! During dinner, Beth asked why so many people around us were speaking different languages. The responses from my other children were hysterical. According to Brenna, when you enter a place that large you just are exposed to a lot more people and the odds of having other languages just go up. Someone prepare the statistics teacher at our local high school...a few years from now that teacher is in for a treat.
And we stopped at Krispy Kreme for a birthday treat!
Then we were off to see Disney On Ice. Oh, I wish I could share the entirety of this story. Like the look on Alex's face when the receptionist at the orthodontist told him she hoped he had a fun time at Disney On Ice...and until that moment he didn't know he was even going. Or the moment when he was handed his official Disney On Ice Girl Scout patch that we got with our Girl Scout discount tickets. He was a great sport about it, and we had a great time. More importantly, Beth loved it...and since it was all about Beth, that made it a great success.
notice the theme...keep food in Alex's hands and he'll have a great time!
how nice of them to wish my sweet girl a Happy Birthday!
we especially love the salute to Toy Story. how cute is Hamm??
The next morning it was time for the Turn Back the Clock 5K. I had the privilege of staying alongside my niece as she finished her first ever 5K!! I was so proud of her, and I look forward to the same one next year, when she has vowed to run the entire course!
cute picture of us and all that, but check out the shirtless dude behind us. It was a pretty chilly day. He passed us coming the opposite way on the course, and I made some comment, and Stephanie had completely missed it! I told her next time she had to keep her eyes open and enjoy the passing views! This guy clearly wanted to be viewed!
blindingly bright sun, but this is Phyllis and Sherie. Phyllis also ran her very first 5K, ran the entire way, too! That's her first time ever running that distance...she ROCKED IT!! So proud of her!
Brad had a great time in his run. Third in his age group again this year. He does like that number 3! He started with a very tight hamstring and was concerned about how it would feel, but he ended up feeling great!
Brad coming into the finish
I had to include a picture of Brad receiving his "major award", because we waited and waited and waited in the cold for him to collect that. Plus he's just cute and I like to take any opportunity to put pictures of him on my blog.
Brad was then off to Arizona for a work trip. Among other things, he was able to tour a data center that was the size of 3 football fields. His report was that it was straight out of "24". Complete with retina scanners to enter the building, glass-walled conference rooms, security cameras that were motion sensitive inside and outside. He went on and on. When he called to describe it to me, I could only imagine that this was to him what touring a chocolate chip factory would be to me. Or going to the Pioneer Woman's ranch. He came home with a cold, but he came home. So glad to have him home.
While he was gone, Alex had his cross country banquet. Fun times, but they must learn to be more efficient somehow. We left THREE HOURS into it, and they weren't yet done. They apparently weren't aware that The Biggest Loser was on and I was missing it. I'm kidding. Sort of.
And speaking of Pioneer Woman, as I was above, I was thrilled....THRILLED...to read that there is going to be a one hour episode of Throw Down with Bobby Flay on Wednesday...a Thanksgiving Dinner throw down featuring...oh, you are so smart: The Pioneer Woman!! Please don't call me or ask anything of me next Wednesday at 9:00. I'll be busy.
AND! I fell in love at Costco today. It was sample-palooza today. And among the yummy samples was Dave's Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce. Oh, heavens. It is so incredibly yummy. They sampled it over their chicken/mozzarella raviolis. Yummy, yummy, yummy. I cannot wait to have that soon. I would eat that sauce just over plain-jane spaghetti noodles. Well, preferably angel hair or thin spaghetti. But, you know...I'd just be happy to eat the sauce. Maybe even just lick it off a spoon. So. Good.
And I've had deep thoughts, seriously deep thoughts, stirring around in my brain all week. I think I just may share them soon. But let me say this much: we need each other. Don't try to do "this" (whatever your "this" is) alone. We need the accountability of each other. We need the encouragement of each other. We need the comforting safety of true relationship with each other. I'll stop there or else I'll just keep going. And it's getting so late and it's a busy day tomorrow.
Most importantly, Happy Veteran's Day today. At our school's Veteran's Day assembly yesterday, which is so beautifully done, I was able to greet and shake hands with all kinds of veterans. Young, old, men, women. One thing they ALL had in common was just an extreme humbleness and appreciation for the acknowledgement. I got very teary-eyed over and over as these humble heroes came, some in full dress, and stood as our choir sang their military branch's song. There is something so touching about seeing those young kids show honor to these men and women.
All. Done.
No comments:
Post a Comment