American Odyssey Relay. 2012.

Some serious epicnesss of epicness in this race.

First, you need to find eleven other people.  Five others, if you're crazy.

Then you spend several months planning things like van rentals, who's bringing what equipment, etc.

Oh, and there's training.

It all leads up to this:

At the first major exchange and affixing the Thor Kitten ears. 

Waiting for van 1.  

Team spirit is a big deal.

I'm honestly not sure how this is so out of order, but this was our van's last runner, finishing up his first run.

The "clean" version of the van.

Van 1's last runner coming off of a KILLER hill.
So killer, they give this runner a pint of beer at the top.

Runner number two for our van, and I was a leeeetle nervous. 

My nervousness is proportionate to the amount of bravado I have.

And I'm off.  With a nice little push from Runner 1.
Also, my arm is not missing from the elbow down.  I'm flexing with my hand in my sleeve - because it was cold. 

Ha, my backside is just really not picture worthy...

Thumbs up... running rocks...

Nice view for the Thor Kitty!

Oh, btw - did I mention my first run was 1.5 miles uphill (900 foot elevation gain)
Then 4.5 miles downhill?
Legs = thrashed.
And I still had two legs left.

The other ladies of the van!  We're still friends!  

Preeeettttteeee much.

Two of the guys in our van said "screw sleeping upright" and went outside.
It was a weeee bit chilly, but they looked like they got comfy enough for their purposes.
I really wish there were some way to have taken a picture of the other four of us in the van.
"T" was in the front passenger seat, with it fully reclined.
"J" was in the second row, driver side, captain seat, with it fully reclined
"TB" slept on the back row seat.
Which leaves me.
I  slept on the floor of the minivan. Somehow curled around the chairs and bags.
If it hadn't been for the previous 30ish hours of awakeness,
It never would have happened.
But those three hours of sleep were some of the most glorious hours of sleep.
Ever.

Other AOR casualties runners.

Some members of van 1 left after they finished all their running.
Sad...
But we made it.
All 200 miles. 

Thank you, SIL, for this amazing logo/mascot.
So you know, we received MANY compliments on it.
The Thor Kittens wouldn't have been the same without this guy. 

It was a great time.  Hard. Exhausting. Exhilirating. Mind numbing. Epic. Awesome.
I could go on with the adjectives, but I won't.  Let's just say that I had a fantastic time.  I want to do another and another and another and another... You get the point.
This isn't a normal race.
Thank goodness I'm not a normal kind of person.

Seven Years

For the first time since we were married, Hubband and I were together on our anniversary.

It was kind of amazing, actually.

The IL's came into town to watch the final soccer games of the season, and took the boys for the night so we could go have a night alone.  Sometimes, halos float above their heads. 


We managed to score some Gavin DeGraw tickets at Wolf Trap, so after soccer we scrubbed the sunscreen off and got all pretty.

We had dinner at "Ovations", WolfTrap's open air restaurant.
DELICIOUS.
Hubband's "my wife is taking another freaking picture of me, this is as good as she's going to get" pose. 

My mom used to have a t-shirt from a Grateful Dead concert (who am I kidding? She had a lot of those shirts...)
from a concert at Red Rocks amphitheater.
I felt a bit like I'd gone back in time when I saw the scene on the lawn.  

However, we had box seats.
DAMN good box seats.
The usher seated us, and mentioned how our seats were awesome.
(Something we'd noticed...)
We mentioned that we bought them last minute and she informed us that it meant
some dignitaries/the president had decided last minute not to go.
So yes, those good box seats.

Such an amazing performer.
No, I don't watch "Dancing with the Stars", and have been a fan for a LONG time.

And then there's this dude.  Who had no rhythm.  Who decided to move IN FRONT OF ME with his no rhythm.
Who bounced, bobbled and weaved right in my line of vision.  (He was standing on his chair.)
I pretty much wanted to punch him in his unrhythmick head.

That was pretty much the night.  Date nights are good.  It's especially good when the hubband gets the one song he was hoping for.  Chemical Party, in case you were wondering. 
Then we went home, and by "went home", I mean that we spent 45 minutes trying to get out of the parking lot.

Dancing King!

Well, not really.

This is where I ask Holden to do his pliés and he says no.

He does them until I pull out the phone. Then he says, "I won't".

Butthead.

Today, I'd like to have wine for breakfast.

This morning started out pretty normal.

I got up to the sounds of three trolls, put on my PT gear, then got them out of bed.
Breakfast, teeth brushing, hair brushing, shoes.

Out the door on the way to nature camp.

On the way there, I accidentally cut off a driver.
Seriously, I'm 97% sure he came out of nowhere. Freakin' phantom cars. 


He sped around me, drove next to me (in oncoming traffic's lane) yelling out his window.
Then, when traffic started coming, he darted in front of me, stopped and flipped me off.
Then he turned the other way as I went into the park.

I dropped the boys off and drove out, thinking "well, that crazy guy wasn't so much fun".

When I came out of the park, he was waiting for me.
He sped out in front of me (time to get a bigger engine'd car?) stopped, put on his flashers (how considerate) and then got out of his car.  (Oncoming traffic in the other lane - I was stuck - and had Holden in my car.) He starts walking up to my car screaming and yelling.

So I grabbed my phone and called 911.  
I'm pretty proud I remembered the number!  


As he got closer he saw me on the phone, and apparently having at least 2 brain cells to rub together, went back to his car and raced away.

Eventually the cops came to the conclusion that there was nothing really they could do, except meet me at my house.

Which I declined, because an ugly cry is best done alone.


Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever been so scared in my life.
It felt so predatory.  Now, as weird as this is - I feel guilty that the cops and I couldn't do more.  Who is going to be in the car the next time this guy does this to someone.  What is going to happen that time?   I know the guilt is weird, and unnecessary - but I have it.

And, for fun car adventures for the McD family, Hubband's car had a tire blow out this morning.  As he said in the email "PM checked for the decade: drive with a blowout, then change the tire".

Oi.

And that is how I came to the conclusion that wine would be perfectly acceptable as a breakfast food.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow.

Is not even a day away.

I have big plans for tomorrow.  Tomorrow begins summer camp for my big boys.
Tomorrow,  I plan to blog.
Tomorrow, I plan to run.
Tomorrow, I plan to fold a rather Fuji-esque pile of laundry.
Tomorrow, I plan to figure out how to give the dog her medications without her eating the hotdog around them, and spitting the impossibly small pills back out.
Tomorrow, I plan to make phone calls.
Tomorrow, I plan to send emails.
Tomorrow, I plan to begin tackling the "home to do list".
Tomorrow, I plan to do some sensorial play with Holdeezy.
Tomorrow, I plan to paint my toenails.
Tomorrow, I plan on making a detailed "to pack" list for our vacation.
Tomorrow, I plan on organizing the kitchen cupboards, so that I no longer have to hear "mommy, I'm thirsty - can you get me a cup down?".
Tomorrow, I plan to scrub my bathroom. HA! AS IF! 
Tomorrow, I plan to re-read my camera manual and put it back to rights.


Summer camp is only 3 hours long.

SUMMER!!!

So, we're kicking it off in high style.

B-rox had an emergency dental appointment Saturday morning to recement a crown and goes back in today to have some teeth pulled.

That's awesome, right? 

Emotions poured from my face as I said "goodbye" to B-rox's first, and only teacher so far.  He becomes a "grader" this coming school year and apparently I'm not dealing with it well.
Almost seven.  I don't know how to process that.  

How do  you not love this photo? 

Happy first Monday of summer!