More Soccer Pics

More pics to share. The team got their new blue uniforms a few games into the season - don't let this confuse you. : )

Ben in goal:

Feel free to laugh at this next one - we do:

DP owned this kid:

Yeah. He made the save:

Thundercats are 1-3-1 so far. We're calling it our "character-building" season. : )

The Bluegrass Half

(That's runner-speak for Half-Marathon.)

That's right blogosphere....today was the day. Team Ludicrous Speed got up early and headed downtown to relay our first ever half marathon. We left the house in a torrential downpour, but it didn't dampen our spirits. Despite being cold and wet all morning, we were all extremely pumped. After all, we had been training for this since July.

We partnered with another family who ran it with their kids too. Mark and Tani (their 12-year old son) started the first leg. They got to be at the start line with all the other hard core runners. We cheered from the sidelines, then walked to our relay posts (they had shuttles, but we had some time to kill).

Leg one started in front of the campus, went winding thru the VA, to the hospital, and back to the soccer fields at the end of campus - 3.4 miles total. They finished leg one in 29 minutes and passed their batons (actually banjo straps - there was a bluegrass theme, you know) on to Lisa and Daniel.

Lisa and DP ran around the soccer fields, through campus, then down and back through the tree streets - 3.1 miles. Lisa finished three or four minutes ahead of Daniel, but he ran the whole way - I was so proud of him! I was waiting at my relay point, and got a little teary-eyed when I saw him come around the corner - banjo strap in hand - ready to hand it off.

I left from the McD's at campus and ran ALL THE WAY down State of Franklin - long and boring. But mostly flat and easy. We turned on Legion Street, crossed over the interstate, and ran up Roan street to the Parkway. Maya (11) was my leg partner, and she had a good head start. I could see her most of the time, and was catching up to her at one point. I wanted to run with her, but right when I got to her, she stopped to tie her shoe. I didn't want to stop! I patted her on the back and kept going, but I didn't get too far ahead.

There were supposed to be musicians playing bluegrass music throughout the course, but I think the rain scared many of them off. But there was this one lady - probably college age - standing all by herself, in the rain, playing a banjo, and singing like there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She was so inspiring! I thought, if she can do THAT, I can do this.

My leg was 3 miles exactly, and I came around the corner to the final relay post to see Ben looking my way, already in the crouch, trying to set the timer on his watch and keep an eye on me. He grabbed the strap and bolted and by Showtime's estimate, we had run for about an hour and a half. (Showtime, Michelle, Chip, and Kristy formed a team as well, so they also hung out with us at the relay spots.) Our team goal was 2 hours, and I was sure Ben would finish in 30. Maya came up about 2 minutes after me, and then Tony took off to finish the last leg. The last leg took them back down the Parkway, back into campus, and basically backtracked the second leg, ending behind the Carnegie.

Maya and I took the shuttle back to the finish, met up with Mark, Lisa, Tani, and DP, and waited for our teams to finish.

The last leg was 3.6 miles, and I think Ben finished in just under 30 minutes. We don't yet know our official time, but we think we finished in 2 hours exactly, which was our goal. Our friends finished right behind us, so it was a huge party at the finish line.

We were SOAKING wet, so we ran (drove) home to change and came back, but we still missed the awards presentation. I confirmed we didn't place, but I really wanted to see how we finished and I still don't know yet.

Oh well. I consider us winners no matter what. A year ago, not a one of us could have run this race. Today, we each contributed and NO ONE WALKED. Not once. That's huge! And it poured rain the whole time, which made it that much more challenging. I am so proud of us!

P.S. - no pictures yet. Will post if we find any, but we didn't take a camera.

UPDATE: Official team time - 2:01:12. woot! We were 12th out of 30 Family Relay teams, although that's not entirely accurate - several of the teams listed in our category were not Family Teams, so it's a little botched. But it's all good....we're happy with our time!

Ten

So, I realized today that it has been almost one month since my last post. Blog-inspiration has been bone-dry here lately, and for that, I am sorry. Then I read That Neil Guy's latest post, 10, listing, in no particular order, ten of his favorite things. (Rumor has it that the song from The Sound of Music was originally called "Ten of My Favorite Things", but Julie Andrews threw a hissy and had it changed. She was oddly opposed to metrics. Just a rumor though.)

Anywho, color me inspired. Here are ten of my favorite things, in no particular order:

1. Clean sheets. There is nothing quite like being tired and crawling into a bed made up with clean, crisp, COLD, and neatly tucked sheets. I try to sleep still just to keep the feeling going for a few nights.

2. LOST. Ordered Season 6 from Amazon and it arrived today. Daniel started watching the final episode while I cooked dinner. I couldn't see it, but the music was all I needed. Man, I miss that show.

3. Post-season baseball. The boys of summer step things up in October. It just feels different. You either get that, or you don't.

4. Fall. My favorite time of year. Starts tomorrow!

5. A good back scratching. After 16 years of marriage, Mark has the technique down. My grandmother was the best ever, and my kids are getting there.

6. My mixer. There's been more than a few posts, and that's all I have to say about that.

7. Riding a bike, downhill, wind in my face, going as fast as I possibly can before finally giving in and squeezing the brakes. Nothing takes me back to childhood quite as much.

8. My kids when they're laughing. It's the most beautiful sound I've ever heard.

9. Ben and Jerry's Creme Brulee ice cream. If you've never tried it, go get some. Right now. I don't care what time it is. Thank me later.

10. Old Hymns. You sing them, and you sing them, and you sing them, and then, one Sunday morning out of the clear blue, you listen to the words and you are blown aware by the sheer poetry. Wordcraft at its most beautiful.

And there it is. What are ten of your favorite things?

Soccer Practice

One of the moms has been bringing a camera to soccer practice and takes a lot of action shots, which she posts on Facebook. Thought I would steal a few of Ben and Daniel in action:

That's Daniel in goal and Ben in the green shirt off to the right.

Yes, that is Daniel sandwiched between the other two players, about to go down hard.

Daniel, Coach T, and Lala: the team mascot.

Run like the wind!

I knew the lengthy gams would come in handy.

Ben shows off his mad dribbling skills.

More Yogaworks (and it really does!)

I was so taken with the Beginner Yogaworks DVD that I bought the other two in the series. I am a big fan.

The Fit Abs DVD has two work-outs - one 10-minute hard-core workout, and one 40-minute "core yoga flow". I like the yoga flow a lot. It's a step up from the beginner workout, I don't sweat too much, but I do push myself in some of the poses. Morning Workout Billy leads the yogaflow class, but Patty is there doing the newbee modifications. (I suspect that Billy has a thing for Patty, but she doesn't seem interested.)

Body Slim is a hard work-out. Fifty minutes of what they call "Cardio-followed-by-slow-burn". They aren't kidding. I work up quite a lather in this one.

Jessie leads this class. In the other videos, she did all the modifications, so this is the first time I heard her talk. She's very peppy. She reminds us to smile a lot. Probably sees way to many angry people glaring at her everyday. Ironically, Jessie is on the cover of the Fit Abs DVD (left) but she teaches the class on the Body Slim DVD. Weird.

I still do my morning and evening 10-minute workouts every day (or at least most days). And I have gotten pretty good at the 45-minute beginner class. It's really just a long, drawn out series of stretches. I like to do that in the evening when I can - I don't sweat during, so I can do it and go straight to bed. I feel like jelly after. It's AWESOME.

And with the new DVDs, I round out the easy beginner class with a good middle-of-the-road class, and a really hard butt-kicker. I have a little something for every mood. : )

But the really good news is: I feel GREAT. I have been consistently doing yoga for almost two months and I really can tell a difference in how I feel, and how my muscles feel when I do other things (running, biking, etc.) Yogaworks! It's not just a cute name!

So, if you are considering taking up yoga, or if you already do yoga and want an at-home option, I strongly recommend the Yogaworks series. I got all three from Amazon, and am really getting my money's worth.

Namaste.

Back to School

We started back to school around here a week and a half ago. Hard to believe I no longer have any elementary school children, but there it is. Following is a brief update on who is going where for what.

First up: Ben

Ben started 8th grade last week. Brand new year, brand new school. Actually, it's NOT a brand new school, it's a really old school that is getting a face lift. Renovations of the 8th and 9th grade buildings finished right before school started back. Ben had to go in on Day One completely cold - no tour, no orientation, no nothing. All he had was a homeroom number and a dream (and I'm not convinced he actually had a dream). But he slowly found his way around (he didn't find his locker until Day 4) and I'm happy to say, all is well. Everyone else was in the same chaotic boat, so that helped. The construction and renovation of other buildings on campus is still going on, so things will be crazy for a while yet. But it's all good. We went to an open house on Thursday and I couldn't believe how good the building looked. It looked like a brand new school.

He is running cross country (which started last week) and is running EVERYDAY after school. Some days they run on campus and in the neighborhoods around the school, and some days they run at the VA. Twice they have run in the evenings to let it cool down a bit. He is really enjoying it. He will also play soccer with Daniel in a Parks & Rec league, but that hasn't officially started yet. In music news, he is still playing the string bass (orchestra meets on the 10-12 campus, so he gets dropped off way far away from the rest of his classes and gets shuttled to his campus mid-morning.)

I think it's going to be a great year for him. I just have one of those feelings.

And now: Daniel

Daniel is a sixth grader and is now a middle school student. He has a locker, a schedule, and an ID card. He has been thrown into the mix with 1200 of his closest friends. He likes his teachers, although he finds one of them "creepy". (I pictured some seventy-year-old battle axe, but we saw her walking in one day and she looked to be about twelve. I told DP it was probably her first teaching job and she was likely scared to death. He seemed mystified by the fact that a teacher might be scared of anything.) Anywho...he had two or three building tours and a meet-and-greet, so he was WAY prepared for his first day. Ironically, the only thing he didn't know going in was his homeroom assignment, which was the only thing Ben did know.

He got his locker assignment on the first day, had to practice opening it, and then reported back to his teacher that while he opened the locker just fine, he had to stand in a chair to reach it. She got him a new locker.

Daniel has signed up for band, and was "fitted" to be a trumpet player. (They let him try out every instrument and rated him on which ones he was most likely to play well. Trumpet was top on the list, and it was the one he wanted to play anyway. So it was a win-win fitting.) He will start toting his trumpet around next week. We ordered one from a "reputable" music dealer on eBay. The band teacher checked it out and gave it a thumbs-up. Whew. Glad that's done.

No school sports for sixth graders, but DP wants to play Parks & Rec soccer with Coach T anyway. He will be playing up this year, so he and Ben will be on the same team. All are very excited about that.

Homework has been light so far, which is a popular concept. There's been lots of connecting with old friends, and making new friends. Ben informs me that he eats lunch every day with a great, funny, bunch of guys whose names he does not know. I asked if he might need to know their names at some point, but he didn't think so. Daniel has friends that he refers to as "Brunden" , "Poop Ice Cream" , and "Shoulder-to-Shoulder". Long stories all. Maybe Ben is on to something.

At any rate, the new school year is well under way and it's good times as far as the eye can see. Here's hoping!

Marvin Kenneth Malone, 1941 - 2010

We said a sad good-bye to Mark's father and the boys' Pepaw this week. He had been sick for a long time and I am comforted to know that he is finally at peace. He passed away on Saturday night with his entire family at his side. I have never experienced anything like that before, and I am so grateful that God granted us that blessing.

One of my fondest memories of Ken happened six months or so before he broke his ankle, which was the beginning of his slow decline. This would have been some time in the fall of 2006 - I was not working at the time. Ken showed up one day and told me our shutters looked terrible and he was there to clean them for us. Ten years earlier, such a statement would have royally pissed me off, but as happens when we get older, I was enjoying a new mellowness. I looked at my shutters and thought "Yeah, he has a point." We spent the day cleaning the shutters. Rather, HE spent the day cleaning the shutters; I spent the day passing water and rags and chemicals back and forth through the upstairs windows. Ken tiptoed around on the roof over our porch, washing and scrubbing and washing some more. I was convinced that he was going to fall and break his neck, but somehow, he got the job done. Ken was a world-class workhorse, and I remember feeling strangely important to have been chosen to help out with one of his projects. It was a good day. (And the shutters looked awesome.)

It was a hard week for all of us, especially Mark. But in the midst of all of our sadness, God chose to bless us tremendously in lots of small ways. I won't share all of them with you - many of them are not my stories to tell - but this experience has strengthened my faith both in God and in people considerably. I know that God is good. I know that people are kind. And I know that Heaven is a little cleaner and quite a few things will get fixed up now that Ken is there. : )

I will share one thing that struck me as particularly poignant, probably more than anyone else. Both of Mark's brothers asked him to help them tie their neckties before the memorial service. It seems that neither of them ever learned; any time they needed to wear a necktie, they had their father tie it for them. To me, that was such a simple but such a profound picture of what it means to lose a father.

Good-bye Pops. We will miss you.

Yogaworks

In my pursuit of health and fitness, I have recently taken up Yoga. I keep reading about how good it is for the muscles and how it can help prevent injuries from the other stuff you do and how all these really super-hot people, when asked how they acquired their super-hot status, say "Yoga".

Problem #1 - I know nothing about Yoga. Except that you use mats and you stretch a lot. (In hindsight, looks like I knew a lot about Yoga.)

Problem #2 - I hate going to the gym and I hate going to "class".

Problem #3 - I don't have a lot of disposable time for another "hobby".

But despite all my problems, I really wanted to try it. Mostly because of the helping-prevent-injury-thing. I'm not getting any younger, but I am getting a whole lot more active, and while I am healthier than I've ever been, I am more at risk for muscle injury than ever before.

So I did the thing I swore I would never do. I ordered a DVD.

I looked at lots of options, but landed on a company called Yogaworks, and a DVD called Beginner Basics. What attracted me? Good reviews on Amazon and the promise of "10-Minute Workouts". Probably not the best reason to buy a DVD, but it spoke to me.

And I have to say, I like what I got. And here's what that is:

1. Intro to all the poses. "Patti" takes you through all the poses you will do in the other segments, slowly and specifically.

2. Beginner workout. 45 minutes of entry-level Yoga fun. Not a lot of sweating going on, but I am challenged to do about half of the stuff we do, which I figure is good. Patti also leads this workout, but "Jessie" does modifications to the workout (i.e., if you can't do this, do what Jessie is doing - she's going bottom-of-the-barrel easy.)

3. The much-ballyhooed 10-Minute Workouts. One is an AM Wake-up and the other is a PM Relax and Restore. Patti does the PM workout. (I really like Patti - she's cute and tiny and has a great voice for this kind of thing. When we do the deep relaxation pose and she starts up with this "Let your brain sink slowly to the back of your skull" I'm a goner. I should just start doing this one in the bed so I don't have to drag myself off the mat when it's over.) "Billy" does the AM workout. Took some getting used to, sort of like the first time you have a male nurse. But I'm liking Billy now too. Both Billy and Patti end their sessions by saying "From all of us at Yogaworks, Namaste", which makes me feel like I'm doing Yoga with the Dharma Initiative. You can imagine how cool that is for me.

So far, I'm liking the Yoga. I've done the AM and PM workouts everyday for two weeks, and the 45-minute workout three or four times (my goal is twice a week.) I see some improvement in doing the poses, and I do feel really good afterward. I got a mat on sale a DSG, so I'm feeling like an old pro. (An old pro who still only does beginner workouts.) There are two more videos in the series, so when I master this one, maybe I'll move on.

For now, I've got a date with Billy for my AM workout.

What's for Dinner?

Necessity is the mother of invention. That, and an unnatural fear of bad shrimp.

So, a month or so back, I thawed some shrimp for a meal I had planned. As is so often the norm, the day spun out of control and my planned dinner got put on hold. But somehow, the side items all got eaten. The next day, I was left with thawed shrimp and no plan. I improvised. I was feeling an Asian vibe that night. And thus was born Mom's Amazing Asian Rice Bowl. Healthy, fast, and delicious: the dinnertime tri fecta.

First things first: cook some brown rice. About 4 servings worth. It takes a while to cook brown rice, but it's very hands off, so I don't count it as actual time. Use a rice cooker or go stove top - whatever works for you. Should take about 45 minutes.

While the rice cooks, dice a half a medium onion and one garlic clove. Saute them in a tablespoon or so of sesame oil for about ten minutes. Add a pound of shrimp, some soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. Just splash some in there, "to taste" as they say. Saute for 4-5 minutes.

Also, steam some broccoli (lots going on at the same time, but trust me, it's easy.) You can do one of those stove top things, but it's really easy in the microwave. Just chop off a head full of florets and put them in a microwave dish. Add a tablespoon or two or water and a sprinkle of salt. Cover with one corner up and nuke on high for 3 minutes.

Adjust your timetable so the shrimp, rice, and broccoli are done at the same time. Then mix them all up in a big ole bowl. Enjoy!

I've made it twice now and I think it rocks. Mark likes it too. Haven't sprung it on the boys yet.

Still Lovin' Where I Live

So my new favorite place on earth is the Virgina Creeper Trail. If you aren't familiar with this 34-mile Rails-to-Trails project, then you haven't read my blog very much. We love to go up there and hike, and since purchasing bikes, we've added cycling to the mix. It is absolutely beautiful - high trestles cross over rivers and fields, and the wide trail cuts through rock and open countryside. All parts of the trail run downhill towards the Holston river, so it's an easy ride if you plan it right. Daniel and I planned it right on Tuesday - I took the day off and we met friends for a trek from Abingdon to the river and back. Cool for the ride out and warmer for the ride back, it was a lovely day. Picnic lunch, lots of laughs, great exercise - not a bad way to spend the day.

Summer Camp!

Ben is back from camp! Looks like he had fun!

I Love Where I Live

The End

Like you didn't know this post was coming.

So, it's officially over. My favorite TV show of all time has come to a close. And I of course have some thoughts about how it all went down.

At 11:30 on Sunday night, I was sitting in front of the TV with my chin in my hands thinking "WTF?" Which is a very normal pose and thought for me to have at the conclusion of any episode of LOST. But this was different, because it was the last one. No tuning in next week to find out what all that was about. And so I was left to figure it all out.

Some things immediately stood out. The sideways was amazing. I have loved the sideways storylines all season. I loved seeing the characters interact with one another in a totally different set of circumstances. In the very first episode, Jack and Locke had that discussion at the lost baggage desk and it hit me "In a different world, these two people might have had a completely different relationship." And so they did. And so did everyone else. It was a real treat to watch. Ben and Locke were my favorites.

But in the finale, the sideways took on a whole new life. The scenes where the characters found each other were so well written and so well acted - possibly the best scenes in the history of the show. I loved Sun and Jin looking at Sawyer when they had it figured out and he didn't. I loved that Kate's touchstone was neither Jack nor Sawyer, but Aaron. And I LOVED the scene with Ben and Locke outside the church. LOST has always been about the characters for me, and the finale was ALL about the characters.

As far as the resolution went, it took me about 24-hours, but I was finally OK with it. I'm comfortable that I understand the ending (and clearly, many viewers didn't) and I like it. A Lot. Not what I wanted and not at all what I expected, but a good ending. It really seemed more like a finale to season six, and maybe not to the whole series, but season six stood apart from the others anyway, and so it is what it is.

I was disappointed that so few questions were answered in the end, but I can see how it would be nearly impossible to go back and touch on all the mysteries from where they were in the story at this point. They would have had to resort to monologuing, and that would have sucked. The thing I was most disappointed to not know was the origin of the statue and the Egyptian influence. I remember getting chills - chills on top of chills - in season five when we saw the completed statue for the first time. To still not know how it got there was a real disappointment.

Other things worth noting:

1. As always, the music was phenomenal. I especially liked the light-hearted "ting" at the end (in contrast to the usual "thunk".)
2. Jimmy Kimmel's alternate endings were awesome, although I didn't get the second one until it was explained later.
3. Even in the sideways, Ben gets beaten up. How great is that?
4. Didn't catch it at the time, but at the very beginning of season six, Rose tells Jack "You can let go now." Indeed you can.

And all those Losties out there can let go too. As they said in The Truman Show, wonder what else is on?