i did it!!

This past Sunday, along with 14,999 other people, I ran that inaugural Nike Women Half Marathon in Washington DC.  As you may know, I ran the race through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training program.  It was an amazing experience to be a part of this race. Here are some pictures and thoughts from the event...

I took the train down on Saturday with my sister Cathy.  Our first stop was to pick up my race day number (bib) and participants bag.  We got there late because of a delay in our train but thankfully another TNT participant allowed us to jump the line, thus saving me about 2 1/2 hours of standing in line.  Here I am with my official participants bag!  Nikes slogan for the race was We Run DC.  It was everywhere!

Race day started at 4:45 AM!  Yikes that was early.  If you know me in real life, you know that I have a very strong love affair with coffee.  Very strong!  In fact, I usually can't stomach food until I've had at least two (sometime more) cups of coffee.  My biggest race day concern was that I wasn't going to have enough coffee in my system to keep things moving (know what I mean?).  Anyway.  The entire TNT team from Delaware, there were 35 of us, met in the lobby at 5:15 so we could walk over together.  It was still dark at this point!

The race kicked off at 7:00 am and my pace group crossed the start/finish line at about 7:07.  It was a very well run event.  There was SO many people that it was hard to find a good line to run at first.  Here is a picture I took from my phone during the race as we were crossing a bridge.  It is hard to make out  but the Washington Monument is in the foreground and there are thousands of runners on the bridge.  It was quiet a sight.  They had a lot of spectators cheering and holding up signs.  Some were so funny like 'run like Ryan Gosling is at the finish line', or 'you kick assphalt' and others were so touching like the little boy holding up the sign 'thanks for running for me, I've been in remission for 14 months'.

I was met at the finish line by my sister Cathy and cousin John.  I was SO happy to see a friendly face.  Even though I ran through TNT, I was essentially running alone for all 13.1 miles.  That is a really long time to run by yourself, at least it was to me...

One part of being a part of TNT is the ritual of decorating your jersey the night before the race.  It was with a heavy heart that I put names on my jersey because cancer is such a terrible disease and claims way too many lives. 

I ran in memory of Joe Rodden, my beloved cousins partner who passed away from cancer earlier in April at the very young age of 51.  Joe was an amazing man and was a big part of fabric of my extended family.  He is sorely missed. 

I also ran in memory of my sister Cathy's friend Susan Logan who passed away last week from complications brought on by the treatment of multiple myeloma (a blood cancer).  Susan was only 55 and will be missed by her family and friends. 

On a happier note, I ran in honor of my amazing sister Cathy.  She is a breast cancer survivor and we are so thankful for that!

One sort of different or unique thing about the Nike Women's race series is that instead of a medal, finishers get a Tiffany necklace.  Necklaces are handed out in little blue boxes by ROTC members holding silver trays and wearing tuxedos.  I am super bummed that I didn't get my picture taken with one of the boys handing out necklaces.  It was so fun.  Here is a picture of my little blue box and my finishers necklace.  You can now bid on these on ebay, the bids are up over $100...

 I am so happy that I signed up for this race and did it!  The last time I ran a half marathon was 20 years ago and I really don't remember doing much training for it.  This time around I trained super hard and ran in all sorts of weather (including snow).  I owe a big Thank You to my husband and kids who supported me by allowing me the time to train. 

Overall, I am happy with the race I ran.  I had a goal time in mind which I did not meet but I'm okay with that.  I now know what I would do differently, if I run another half marathon or even a full marathon in the future. 

Finally, I am so thankful to everyone who supported me by sponsoring me and donating money to the LLS.  With your help, TNT raised over 6 Million dollars through this race alone. 

So Thank You, we are all one step closer to a cure!

play ball...

If it's spring it means baseball around our house.  John is playing in minor B this year, which is the U10 division of our local little league.  Which means they are playing using real baseball rules.  The boys are pretty used to most of the rules because of last year, so there isn't much to learn it just makes it more exciting. 

John was 'drafted' by the coach who coached him when he first played t-ball five years ago and is playing on the Phillies (which is pretty exciting since we live so close to the real Phillies baseball team).  We really like this coach and his demeanor with the boys. 

Here is my little slugger from his first season in 2009.  Oh be still my heart!

Here are some picture from his game last week.  It was a really nice sunny day and was a great night to be at the field.  Spring here can mean sunny and 70 at game time or overcast and 45.  So we were all happy to be warm last week.  I didn't get too many close up pictures because I was trying to watch Grace and Luke and pay attention to the game, but here are some of John batting and running the bases.

So far John's team is off to a good start and are 2-0 this season.  Because of John's age, we try not to emphasize winning too much and focus on the fun of playing the game, learning & growing, doing your best no matter the outcome of the game, the importance of being part of a team and the fine art of winning or loosing with grace and a humble attitude.  But truth be told, there are winners and there are losers in life.  And (also) because of John's age, these boys are keeping track of which team won, which teams lost and who they beat.  They are also talking to their friends on other teams about who won and who lost.  So as with everything in parenting, it is a balance.  We are hoping to balance John's innate desire to do his best and win every game with the life lessons that come with winning and loosing as a part of a team.  Thankfully, the loses seem to be easily shrugged off at this age and the fun of playing outweighs any bigger issues.

the american helicopter museum...

One of the best parts of being a stay at home mom, for me anyway, is going on class field trips.  I just love a field trip.  I still feel the same excitement I did as a kid.  And I love going on an adventure.  Last week I had the opportunity to go The American Helicopter Museum with Luke's class.  It was really fun!

We started our field trip with a video of all the things that helicopters do and then played a fun game with one of our tour guides.  He asked the kids to see if they could remember the names of parts of a helicopter and we 'built' a helicopter together.

Then they set us loose in the main part of the museum and we had a "scavenger hunt" to see if we could find certain helicopters based on picture clues.  The kids liked looking at all the helicopters.  But their favorite part was the helicopters they could go in.  There were about 5 set up for the kids to pretend to be the pilot and fly.  All the kids enjoyed sitting in the cockpits. 

We ended our field trip with going outside to see one of the early prototypes of the osprey helicopter.  Even though it was super cold, the kids posed for a class picture.

I think the parents learned more about helicopters than the kids but it was still a great field trip.  If you live locally and haven't been, I think it would be a great place to take the kids.  You can check out  information on visiting the museum here.  I wish I had known about this place when my boys were little it would be a great place to take kids for a few hours and then go to a park for lunch.

spring has sprung...

I realized the other day that I hardly pick up my camera anymore.  It is just easier to pull out my phone and snap some pictures of what we are doing.  And with the quality of the camera in phones these days, the pictures are usually quite good.  But I do miss using my camera.  I love the feel of holding it and framing the pictures.  So on a warm spring night last week I pulled out my big camera and snapped some pictures of the kids. 

The boys love to play outside and Grace loves, {loves}, LOVES to swing.  In fact, she will throw a good, old-fashioned hissy fit if she has to get off the swing before she wants too.  It is so funny and so typical it actually makes me laugh. 

On this particular night, the boys wanted to see who could jump the highest off the swings.  I remember doing that exact same thing with my sisters.  So here are some pictures from our backyard fun.

Then they wanted to jump together.  So they got going at the same time and were able to stay together until they got going high enough to jump together!

 

 

  They were so happy to jump at the same time.   I love how much fun they have with each other.

And sister sat on her swing watching and smiling at her boys.  She loves to be around them so much and they are really good with her.

There were also backyard races to see who was the fastest.  I abstained from racing, using my upcoming Half Marathon as an excuse.  I told them after all this training, I wasn't going to get injured in the backyard and not be able to run.  Whenever the boys race, it always leads to tears.  Luke is smaller and not as fast as John so it makes him cry to loose.  In this case, he was crying before the race even started...

The race ended up being called a tie.  Which was a great way to end our backyard fun.  We are all so happy that warm weather seems to be the norm rather than the exception around here these days...

easter pictures...

Here are some scenes from Easter this year.  We dyed eggs because the boys LOVE the tradition of it.  However, they are super sad that I actually eat the eggs their creations.  So I have to eat them when they are not around. 

We had Easter dinner at my sister Patty's house and I was able to get some great shots of the cousins together.  There certainly is a lot of activity and noise when those five boys get together.  Here is some evidence that they do sit still...

As I selected these pictures I realized that Grace wasn't in any of them.  Sister was there both for the egg dying and the Easter dinner however, she is super hard to photograph these days.  This is what she was doing as the boys were dying eggs.

For some reason, she thought climbing over the back of the couch was a good idea.  Every time I would mover her away, she would come right back.  Stubborn girl...

will you help me reach my goal?

Of all the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year, there is only one that I have kept.  I don't like the term New Year's Resolutions, so instead I set goals.  Maybe it's just semantics but it's what I do.  For the past few years, my goals seem to be the same every year;

To fold and put away the laundry the same day that I do it

To read my bible daily

To keep a journal or at least write down prayers and then praises when they get answered

To scrapbook my kids lives

To run a road race

To loose 5, 10, 15 pounds...


You get the idea.  Every year those same items are on my list of goals and every year I start off strong and then my inner lazy girl takes over and all progress stops.  Knowing that I am inherently lazy, I decided that in order to keep myself on track I needed accountability.  Right now I have two baskets of laundry from Saturday mocking me from the living room so it's not the laundry that I'm consistent with...

So, in a leap of faith, I signed up to run a half marathon.  Yikes!  I haven't run that far in almost 20 years.  I signed up to run through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT) program.  If you are not familiar with this program, basically they will train you to run the race you sign up for in exchange for you fundraising.

I signed up to run the Nike Women's Half Marathon in Washington, DC on April 28th.  It is the perfect race for me because it is close to home and Mark is off work that weekend.  I am 6 weeks away from my race and have been so consistent with my training it is amazing!  I am running 4-5 times a week and up to 25 miles a week.  I haven't been this consistent in a really, really long time.  It feels great to run!

The piece that I am not doing so well on is fundraising.  So, if you are inclined to help me.  Here is a link to my fundraising page.  There is also a widget on my sidebar that will take you to my fundraising page.  My boys are donating their allowance to help me reach my goal.  Please remember that every little bit helps! 

Now, I'm off to fold that laundry.  Or maybe I'll go to the library and pick up some books instead...

let's just say ridiculous instead...

Today is national stop the r-word day.  It is a day set aside to raise awareness that the use of retard or retarded hurts.  It is slang and like other words of slang that are derogatory, it hurts.  Unfortunately, I don't think people even realize that they are using it and that it can be a hurtful term.

I'm not an activist.  I'm not someone who is going to jump all over you because of your views or opinions.  But I am a mom.  I'm a mom of a person who has been diagnosed with mental retardation.  As such a mom, I hate the use of retarded as slang.  It makes me physically wince when someone uses it casually in conversation.  And I come across people using it in all walks of life and in all situations.

I have encountered it in casual settings such as parties, at family gatherings, in church bible study, in almost every situation you can think of, I've been around someone who said, 'that's retarded' or 'I'm retarded for doing xyz...' 

I don't have a typical response or a standard rebuttal for someone who uses this slang.  But I pretty much always say something to the effect of, we don't use that term anymore.  Most people I am gently correcting know Grace and immediately say 'Oh sorry, I didn't even think'.  Because my goal is not embarrassment and my tone is pleasant these encounters are not confrontational but rather educational.  And I never (and I do mean never) attack anyone or confront total strangers about their use of the word.

I feel that part of my job as a mom is to be an educator.  I take my role as my children's first teacher very seriously.  Since Grace is significantly mentally and physically disabled, it is my job to give my kids information so that they can process and understand her disabilities.  John and Luke are beginning to face questions about their sister and they need to have answers that they are comfortable with sharing.  They also need to not only know when to speak up and defend her but how to defend her.  I always tell the boys, that most people do not mean to mean they just don't know what else to say.  So I tell people instead of using the term retarded, why don't you say ridiculous.  It works just as well and doesn't hurt anyone.

Recently, I had the chance to tell someone who I had just met that I would prefer that he use another word.  I explained that my daughter had a diagnosis of mental retardation and that when people used retarded as slang it was hurtful.  I suggested that he say his decisions were ridiculous instead.  Since I don't know him, I wasn't sure how he received my message but the people I was with said that I had done a good job of not insulting him and sharing my commitment to end the use of the r-word.  I ended my little public service message by showing him a picture of Grace and saying that this was what retarded looked like. 

So, I encourage you to just say ridiculous instead.  Since this is the face of someone who is retarded...