My Sisters

Today is the almost halfway point between two very special days--- Palmer and Emily's birthdays!! My sisters had the good fortune of being born a week apart (well okay 3 years and 53 weeks apart....but you know what I mean). This makes for a fun weeklong stretch of celebrating! Or when we were younger it meant some GREAT birthday parties.
As with most kids when we were little we pretty much had the same set of friends, so Emily and Palmer would have joint birthday parties. I honestly don't know how many children my parents would play host to, but they sure were some good times! No party was complete without a game of "What's Missing" (anyone remember that?) or Dad's magic trick performance, a little Duck Duck Goose, perhaps a rousing game of Kickball, and some Slip n Slide action. Some of the fondest memories of those are my slip n sliding naked at one of Em's parties (i was young okay!!), when Em dropped the entire plate of cupcakes on the floor, and the fire truck birthday.
The Fire Truck birthday..........awwww memories. Perhaps the most talked about birthday in Middletown, when my parents actually got the fire men to come to our house! No no, this was not planned as many children wanted to believe. Mom was making pizza (if I remember right) for everyone to have for lunch. Well the pizza got a tad overcooked, setting off the smoke alarms, which sent out a distress signal, which brought the fire truck to our house. Good times, good times.

Okay, well this post has gotten a little off track since I got immersed in memory land. My point was to honor my sisters for their birthdays. So here goes it: Happy Birthday to two of the best sisters in the entire world! I love you both so much and am so honored to be buffered on both sides by such wonderful women. Although I am slightly jealous that my birthday wasn't so closely aligned to yours, how fun would it have been to have them three weeks in a row??

Palmer first, since your birthday is first: you are the family comedian, you are also a go-getter, dedicated, hard working, loyal, loving, honest, ambitious, talented, athletic, inspiring, creative, smart, warm-hearted..........tall and blonde! Haha had to throw those last two in. You are a tremendous joy to have as a sister, and an inspiration to my lazy butt to stay fit and get fast so that perhaps someday I can run an entire race with you. You sail through the ranks at work because of your dedication and hard work. You have a lot of love and healthy respect for the animals you work for, and they are lucky to have you. There is never a dull moment in life with you, and I truly cherish that. And I miss you so much being way out there in Seattle, but Ainsley and I will be there soon for a visit.

I thought I would throw in a few of my favorite Palmer moments, just because- a little chicken soup for Palmer's soul. :) Cutting off the popples tails, cutting your hair and then trying to reattach it with Crest gel toothpaste, when you injured your jaw and said you didn't want your picture in the newspaper, your ability to create cameras out of McDonald's nugget boxes, our countless hours of driving together to and from the barn and to and from horse shows, spending two weeks together at Brownland-training ourselves the second week!, playing Lonesome Dove around the Breezeway at Lochmoor, riding Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point (after our failed first effort), watching you ride at Junior Finals, seeing Duke win the NCAA Championship game with you, your being one of my two Maids of Honor (and the wonderful shower you and Em threw for me), seeing you with Ainsley, yearbook camp (we are so cool!), our two miles of running together during the Flying Pig this year, and perhaps my all time fave: touring the museums together in Rome when you couldn't see from the sweat pouring into your eyes! Happy birthday once more, I hope 26 is a fabulous year. And I cannot wait to run San Francisco with you.

Emily- the big sis. You are so kind-hearted, family-oriented, loyal, loving, sweet, honest, dedicated, smart, caring, talented, considerate, and indecisive (which is a GOOD thing) because you are waiting for what you really want. :) You have always been a challenge to follow through life because you have set the bar so high on everything, I always had to match your grades and efforts! You have developed an amazing skill set of massage therapy and athletic training. Where would I be without my personal athletic trainer keeping my sore muscles and bones together? I've always felt safe because I've known that you are looking out for me. And I have so enjoyed embarking on our running career together many years ago, and the countless miles we have ran together. You are such a wonderful caregiver, I know the numerous athletes that have had the joy of working with you count themselves lucky to have had you tending to them.

Here are some favorite Emily moments for you: when you got Blitz, being on our first "track" team together (I believe we were 6 and 8? or 8 and 10?), finding Fonzie, all the times you came to my rescue in college, the night you sprained your ankle at Duke and we spent forever in the hospital-- while they wheeled a dead body past you!, our Belmont apartment with Rudy toots, running that path in Durham every Sunday, good times at Looney's with Red and Dunn, Emo (nuf said), seeing you and Jeff Mayne studying together (will NEVER forget that), having you as my other Maid of Honor and the great shower you threw, sharing Ainsley's baptism with you, and running our first full and half marathons together. And I am eternally grateful to you for somehow coaxing me through our second Disneyland half when I pretty much had a monumental collapse at mile 9-- I don't know how you got four more miles out of me! Here's to 30- may it be a wonderful year!

I am sure I have bored the heck out of anyone besides Emily and Palmer who may have read all the way through, but I felt that this was the most opportune time for a fitting tribute to my sisters, whom I love so much. I would not be me without the both of you. So once more, happy birthdays to both of you!

Ainsley and the Boys

One of the highlights of the past few weeks for me has been watching Ainsley play with her cousin Henry. More watching Ainsley with all three of her cousins. She is at that point now where she is really able to watch them and interact (as much as a near 7 month old interacts). And each of them have their own special relationship with her.

William and Pierson are the entertainment- they delight in making her laugh whether that is tickling or talking to her or making funny faces. She reciprocates by screeching at them. We will have to work on our interactions with the opposite sex for the distant distant future! William is programmed to make sure we do not miss any of her firsts--- so much so that he likes for us all to see everything she does all the time. Everytime I hear William start screaming for us to come quick when he is in a room with Ainsley and I am not, my heart drops. Have no fear, he is just delighting in the fact that she has rolled over, spat up, sat up, smiled, or laughed at him. I don't have the heart to tell him that these activities have been a part of her repertoire for a while now.

Pierson is the cuddle bug, he loves to give her kisses and hugs. And really seems to like holding her, with assistance of course. He and William also like to tell me when she 'talks'- according to them she has already mastered the words 'Baby', 'William', 'Pierson', 'encyclopedia', 'supercalifragilisticexpialadocious'......okay I jest on those last two.

However the true highlight is watching her and Henry together. I have included a picture of her with him, however this one is almost two months old now, and their interactions are a lot more advanced now. It is so heart-tickling to watch them sitting side by side playing with a toy. Or more likely, Henry showing Ainsley how to play with the toy. They will alternately put their arms around each other, give each other kisses, or just hold on. Ainsley has figured out that Henry is mobile, so everytime now he tries to crawl away, she grabs his shoulder or his clothing and holds onto him--- leaving poor Henry to look at the nearest adult with the most pleading eyes, begging to be released.
Of course, his being 5 months older than her has not seemed to translate to Ainsley yet, she seems to believe they are equally capable of everything, although I do suspect she is a little frustrated when he crawls off or pulls up. Henry likes to be a little show off for his cousin too, last weekend Ainsley and I sat on the floor of the Murphy's game room while Henry used his walker and motored circles around us. Count both of us awestruck with his ability!

It truly is a ton of fun watching them all interact and develop their own individual relationships with each other. So now, Emily and Palmer, it is time for you all to contribute some more cousins for Ainsley to get to know. :-D I know I cannot wait to see the little beauties you all will have and for them to grow up together as well!

**DISCLAIMER- NEITHER of my sisters are pregnant- I don't want to freak anyone out by thinking that I have let a cat out of the bag! Nor are either planning to become so in the immediate future (at least that I know of)! I am just looking into the years to come, at some point in time...........**

Runner's Block

Whoa I have been remiss in not writing in a while. Oops! Guess life interfered again.

Okay time to vent..............I have a serious case of Runner's Block and it is driving me crazy!!! I am to the point fitness wise where I really don't have any excuses for not putting forth my best effort and being able to conquer each run and feel good about myself. And yet. And yet. And yet...........I keep getting stuck!

Take this morning as a case in point. Yes, it is HOT here in good ole Greensboro, even at 5am when we were starting our run. But it has been hot for a while now, so that doesn't count anymore. I was determined to have a good run, I didn't even wear my watch because I figured I would finish the exact same time as running buddy Courtney so what would be the point of us both timing the same thing?? Good intention, poor execution!

I held up just fine until about halfway through, when that little voice in the back of my head started saying we should reallllllly take a walk break about now. You know that voice, the same one that says we could reallllly use another glass of wine, or we would reallllllllly enjoy another cookie...........yep that one. I guess I need to start shutting that voice up a little more- because there I was, with only 1 mile of running to go, giving in and walking. ARGH! And then, to add insult to injury, I gave in and walked again! Again!!! With only a half mile to go! I mean really legs and brain, you couldn't carry me just a little further??

This all probably wouldn't be upsetting me so much if it wasn't training time! The Nike Women's half is looming-- a little less than 3 months away, so there is no time for excuses. No time to be stymied by some silly mental issue! And trust me, those hills of San Francisco are not going to look any easier than anything I've encountered here in the 'boro, so I better get a move on. Although I am counting on some cooler weather- I certainly hope that San Francisco doesn't decide to have an October extreme heat wave! If that is the case, I will be waving bye bye bye to that PR hope.

So anyway, it is time for me to tell my doubting Thomas that he needs to be quiet and have a little faith........the road to PR-ing awaits me, it is time I get on it.

The Old Couple

My apologies- it's been awhile, but it has been a wildly crazy few weeks.

Just got back from Fourth of July in Charleston with the Neals and Judys--- and like always we had an absolute blast. Ainsley was showered with attention- and they didn't even mind when she discovered and quickly adapted her new trick of SHRIEKING in delight. This only lasted the entire 5 hour car ride home- Chris and Heather, you are saints for putting up with it!

But while we were in Charleston I also came to the realization that Justin and I are officially the "Old Couple." I am sure Heather and Ashley were shocked the first night when after putting Ainsley to bed at 7:30pm, I emerged in my pajamas for the night. Oops- did anyone expect to have wild late night plans because I just squashed them!

I honestly cannot even remember the last time Justin and I stayed out at a bar until 2am, scratch that, the last time we went out to a bar! And I'm not complaining! I love finally embracing my little homebody innerself and lounging on the couch most nights. Of course, we should make an effort to have some late night activities every now and then if we can secure a babysitter, but I really don't miss it at all. One night in Charleston I indulged myself with 3 glasses of wine- and boy did I pay the price the next morning!!!! Whoa, hello hangover, long time no see.

Justin remarked the other night that I was being an extreme night owl- staying up until 11pm. I am surprised my carriage didn't turn into a pumpkin. I guess this "oldness" comes with the baby territory, which is fine. We just have to purchase ourselves some snuggies, fixadent, and get one of those nifty chair lifts for our staircase and then Justin and I will be all set for the next 50 years.