Four Things

Okay, I am going to try to do this, but I discovered the four things that take up most of my time, energy and thoughts are Mark, Drew, Evan and Lindsay. There isn't much time for fluff! Maybe an additional question should have been, what 4 things should you be doing instead of this. HaHa.

Four jobs I've had:
Super scanner at Randall's grocery store
Lab assistant at Baylor
Clinical Dietitian at Providence Health Center, Waco
Consulting Dietitian

4 Movies I could watch over and over: (I don't really like movies so this was hard)
Beaches
Father of the Bride
Coal Miner's Daughter
It's a Wonderful Life

4 Books I could read over and over again:
The Power of a Praying Wife
The Power of a Praying Parent
The Bible
The Giving Tree

4 Places I've lived:
Houston, Texas
Athens, Georgia
Waco, Texas
Houston then back to Waco

4 TV shows I watch
CSI
Oprah
Without a Trace
Anything on Discovery Health

4 Places I've been on Vacation
Cancun, Mexico
Jamaica
Boston
Rhode Island

4 Websites I Visit Daily
slickdeals.com
funbrain.com
twopeasinabucket.com
hoagiesgifted.org/parents

4 of My Favorite Foods
conversation hearts
baby carrots
strawberry kiss
chinese food

4 Places I'd like to be right now
hibernating in bed
Rocky Mountains
Niagra Falls
CocoCay, Bahamas

Weekend Report

We had another busy weekend. Drew spent the night at a friends' house Friday night. He only got about 30 minutes of sleep. This really seemed to work for him. He made 7 baskets at his basketball game, half of his teams 28 points. One was even from the 3 point range! Now he wants to stay up all night EVERY Friday night. The other four of us celebrated Mozart's 250th birthday Friday night. We went to a concert on campus. We were hoping the kids would fall asleep and we could enjoy the music but much to my surprise they really enjoyed it too. Evan even got the autograph of one the the musicians. Evan had a good basketball game as well. His team is really looking better. It's all that GREAT coaching! It hadn't rained hard in Waco for a very long time. It did Saturday morning. But that didn't stop Mark from waking up in the wee hours of the morning to run 22 miles. Now that is dedication. We spent some time in the pool Saturday. It was fun for the kids and felt great to Mark. Drew never did take a nap. We made sure he knew that grouchiness would not be acceptable but it seems that we wore Evan out! He fell asleep in full catchers gear!

Game shows...

I think US networks need to start looking more to Japan for show ideas, rather than England (Millionaire, Big Brother, American Idol, etc.). This one looks very entertaining...

Preschool Troubles

Lindsay seemed a bit sad when I picked her up from school today. I had to find out why.

Mom: Did you have a good day at school?
Lindsay: I guess so. I had a bad feeling about something.
Mom: What do you mean?
Lindsay: Well, Brinley never lets me play with her at school. When my class is out on the playground I see her with her class and she ignores me. I want to play with her like I do at church but she just won't let me.
Mom: I'm sorry, honey. Sometimes kids just are not as nice as they should be. Just keep being nice to her and maybe she will change her mind. Maybe she was having a bad day.

After much thought, Lindsay very matter of factly said: I think she doesn't get enough sleep!!! And that was the end of that!!

Wonderful Grands

My kids are extremely blessed! They have wonderful grandparents. The relationship between a grandparent and grandchild is extremely special. I love to watch my kids' eyes light up as they talk about one of the grands. Here are a few thoughts about each grand:

Grandma (above, my mom) is one of the most generous ladies on Earth. She would give you the shirt off her back if she thought you needed it! She unselfishly helps everyone around her. She is a ton of fun. She loves being with her 3 grandkids. She is amazing! I appreciate her more every day as I attempt to parent my own children. Her faith in God set a great example for me. Her strength and resolve are admirable.


Papaw (Mark's dad) is a very intellegent, respected doctor who can be fun and silly too! He is an avid Baylor fan. He is very dedicated to his family, friends and patients. He is a man of integrity. He is one of the greatest examples of God's love I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. He is handy around the house and not afraid to do the dishes. He has his hands full with 11 grandkids but does a great job giving them all attention. He relates well with Drew's math mind, loves Evan's sweet spirit and is quite taken with Lindsay.

Meme (Mark's mom) is a sensational lady. She is generous beyond belief. She is always delighted to spend time with her family and friends. She has a wonderful positive outlook on life. Her love is bountiful and freely distributed. She is also a wonderful cook. She loves to travel, attend Baylor events and is quite involved in Baptist life. She helps create life long memories by hosting family in her home as well as cousins camp annually.

With Grandparents like these, the kids have to grow up feeling loved and willing to share their love with others. They have a lot to live up to!

Tomorrow finally came

Lindsay couldn't wait to get to grandma's house. She was really pretty excited about the whole weekend. We spent a great deal of time in traffic. Ahh... traffic. How I do remember sitting in my car for hours inching my way slowly to my destination all the while ingesting the toxic fumes from the car in front of me. I remember a time when I didn't mind traffic but that is not the case anymore! In graduate school, I would drive from my house to the medical center every morning in an hour and a half and not think a thing about it! Enough about traffic.

We had a busy weekend. We picked up Mark's 1/2 marathon number at the George R. Brown convention center. There was lots to do there. The kids "drove" a race car, we got lots of freebies and tastes of yummy snacks. Then we had lunch at The Hard Rock cafe. We walked around the theatre district in some pretty parks to let the kids get some energy out.
Then we were off to see ANNIE!















































We all slept as Mark got up and drove to the race. The whole thing was on TV so we could watch the fun. Thanks to technology and the "chip", we got updates on Mark's progess on my phone. The only picture we have of him is when he got back to Grandma's house. We will be there in person to cheer him on for the BIG ONE!

















After the race, we explored the museum district via the new transit system and took in an IMAX movie. We ended the trip with a visit to my grandparents house. My grandmother is doing well after a rough summer. We suspect that Evan may have had a few seizures this weekend. He has had some headaches and had to come home from school Tuesday. Please continue to pray that he is still on the road to recovery.

Boring running stuff...

Regina's just been blogging away without me and I didn't even know it. I guess it's becuase she's putting up pictures of the "big" me and she didn't want to tell me.

Since we were going to Houston to see Annie last weekend, I decided that I would run the Houston Half-Marathon. I'm sure Regina will tell all about the fun weekend in another post, so I'll just focus on the boring running part...

WOW! Was it ever crowded! There were 17,779 runners between the 5k, Half and Full Marathon. I didn't head to the start line early enough and I didn't really know the layout as well as I should have, so I ended up close to the back. It took me 4 minutes to get to the start line. I ran in 1:48:41. I was a bit disappointed that it was slower than my White Rock time, but I've been fighting allergies for a few weeks (including race day) and I don't think that helped. Hopefully, the cedar will blow through before the marathon. I think the crowd had an affect, too, since it took a while before I could get into kind of rhythm.

The first mile was extremely crowded and, since I started way at the back, I was weaving in and out of people the whole time. I'm not all that fast, but I do run at faster than a walking pace. It really took 4 or 5 miles before things spread out at all and I really didn't have much elbow room until we made the turn that separated the marathoners and half-marathoners close to mile 9.

They have some really cool tools that give graphical representations of my finish. (But make sure you mouse over the image headings so you can see my place according to chip time, which makes me look better.) And you can watch my little yellow dot travel the course if you click on the MapTrack link on this page.

Update: Here is video of me crossing the finish line. I'm way in the back in yellow and come across about 15 seconds after the clip starts (when the big clock is at 1:52:41).

Another update- Pictures! (warning- somewhat scary. Look at your own risk.)

At least I beat the governor. I guess his info is blocked for security reasons, but his start time was before me and Drew saw him finish on TV at about 1:55, and I was at 1:52. I didn't see him when I passed him, though. I guess because there were a thousand other people around, too. (Update: You can see his finish and TV interview after the race. He came in about 1:55. Funny how they let him cross the marathon finish line by himself. That's probably why he doesn't have a time.)

The race starts and finishes at the GRB Convention Center which works out well so that they can have all the food and bag check and stuff indoors in case it rains. If my body can handle the current marathon, maybe I'll go back next year and run the full. Once again, I didn't have knee or calf problems. Thanks to the modified stretches my trainer-friend showed me and the glucosamine I'm taking, I haven't had any problems. Maybe I don't need the glucosamine anymore, but I'm not going to find out until after the marathon.

For those that really care, here are my splits, which were all over the place:
Mile 1- 8:47 (among a huge crowd)
2- 8:01 (I think I followed someone part of time who was fast, but clearing a nice path)
3- 8:26
4- 8:05
5- 8:43
6- 8:25
7- 8:46 (I finally gave in and stopped at a port-a-can during this mile. Note to self: fill up on water, but stop drinking 45- 1 hr before the race.)
8- 8:11
9- 8:16
10- 8:13
11- 7:28 (I tried to pick it up for the last few miles...)
12- 8:38 (but then I hit downtown and got the wind tunnel effect among the tall buildings right in my face. Really windy.)
13- 7:47 (picked it up again as I emerged from the main downtown area.)
last bit- 0:47

My hometown--Waco

When I moved to Waco in 1989 to attend Baylor, I must say I wasn't very impressed. Leaving Houston, a city filled with malls, restaurants and entertainment for a city with three restaurants and blinking lights at 9:00 didn't thrill me (okay maybe it wasn't THAT bad). Needless to say, Waco has blossomed over the years and I have really grown to love it. I think it is the perfect size for our family. I love that we can get anywhere we need to go in less than 20 minutes. I guess the city of Waco thinks that we are so sold on living here that they can use our youngest child to promote this great city.

I do miss the arts and entertainment of a big city. This weekend we are off to the big city to see Annie.

A New Mark

Mark is running all the time! If you don't think running 20 miles on a Saturday morning can do wonders for your figure, you should check out what it did for Mark. He is amazing. He often rises before the sun to run. I laugh when he says, "I'm only running 8 miles today." I admire his dedication!!! I guess I don't always appear to be supportive. Once when he came back from a very long run, I told him I could have driven to Dallas and back in the same amount of time. I don't think he liked that. I run only when someone is chasing me. I know I need to get out and exercise more. Right now he is running enough for both of us!

Wise boy, you are!

Lately, Evan has been very interested in my college days. He is going to be our child who goes to college to have a good time. He loves to be around people. He asked if I ever dated anyone other than Mark. He's seen my scrapbooks from Baylor but he thought those "other guys" were Mark. Anyway, while at the Lady Bears game on Saturday, we ran into an old flame and I introduced Evan to him. Afterwards, I asked Evan if he thought I had made a good choice choosing Mark. As I expected, he said I did but I could tell that he was still thinking. A while later, he told me that he couldn't say for sure that I had made a good choice because it is not only what is on the outside that matters. He said he didn't know the other guy well enough to make a judgement. WOW! All that from a 6 year old boy.

We're Back!

Holidays are great! The kids have a great time staying up late, playing with new toys and hanging out at home. The boys LOVE their new Star Wars outfits and are very eager to learn to play the guitar. Lindsay is most fond of her Fur Real dog that barks and licks. I have had fun with the kids at home but I am also excited that school is about to start again!!! I love starting a new year. Once again I am challenged to be a calm, peaceful influence on my kids. This hasn't happened yet. My resolutions are always the same...
Be a better wife, mom, daughter, friend.
Exercise more regularly, lose weight, cook more often and healthier.
Pray constantly, be more committed to Bible study and love others more than myself.

I am excited about 2006!