Celebrating Seuss

 In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, Olivia's school had a two-day celebration.  Both days included various fun activities and many many Dr. Seuss books.  Day one of the celebration was hat day.  Students could wear Dr. Seuss hats to school.  We couldn't find Brian's old red-and-white hat, so we sent Olivia to school with $5 so that she could purchase one.  They had all sorts of color combinations to choose from.  She opted for this lovely purple and white number.  The second day was crazy hair day.  We put a plastic cup on Olivia's head and pulled her hair up around it to produce a tall-standing hairdo.  At the school, students were able to get their hair sprayed in different colors.  The hairdo didn't make it through the day, but the spray did.  She had pink and blue hair when she came home.  It sounds like everyone had a great time.

26.2

The event: I did it.  Over President's Day weekend, I completed my first full marathon.  The marathon that I participated in was the 26.2 with Donna- aka the National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer.  I don't think I've ever seen so much pink in one place before.  All of the runners and volunteers were decked out in this color.  The course began at the TPC (golf course) in Ponte Vedra and ran through the beach neighborhoods of Neptune, Atlantic, and Jacksonville Beaches.  A few miles of the course were actually run ON the beach.  All of the residents of these communities turned out in force to cheer for the runners.  Many had decorated their houses, businesses, and streets.

The crew: This race served as a "first" for many in my running group.  In addition to being my first marathon, it was the first half marathon for Maura and Hunter.  This was Quincy's second half, and she PR'd.  .

The experience:  Excitement was definitely high for all in my running group.  Even the below-freezing weather couldn't dampen the mood.  I'm glad that we could feel the excitement- because we couldn't feel our fingers or toes.  We arrived super early so that we could avoid traffic and ended up huddling up in the "warm" tent for about an hour.  The race started late, so we ended up shivering at the start for thirty extra minutes.  Thank goodness that we went to Target the night before and bought extra gear to keep us warm.  Once the race started, we warmed up quickly.  My strategy for finishing the race was to get with the 4:30 pace group and stay with them.  I wish I had stuck to this plan.  About a mile in, I got bored with the pace of this group and sped ahead to catch up with the  4:15 pace group.  This was a mistake because I used too much energy doing this and paid for it at the end.  I did catch up with the 4:15 group and stayed with them til about mile 10.  This is where I decided to hang back and slow my pace.  At mile 14 something happened to my knee.  I don't know what it was, but I was in extreme pain.  [Side note: I have since been to the doctor about the knee, and he said that I probably injured my meniscus or IT band.  He won't know for sure until he does an MRI- which will only happen if it keeps bothering me. So far it has not been bothering me.  I'm suppose to be cutting back on the mileage and icing my knee for a little while.]  Anyway, the pain in my knee began at mile 14.  There was no way I was quitting, so I ran / hobbled for the last 11 miles.  I was so happy to see the finish line. My time was 4:49:23.  Not going to qualify for Boston with that time, but I'll take it.  I'm just glad to have finished in a upright position.  Overall, I really enjoyed this race, and I plan to do more in the future.

Snaggletooth

Some of the kids in Olivia's class have started losing their teeth, and she has been eager to join in.  Last week one of her bottom teeth became loose, and she spent the rest of the week wiggling it.  When she came into my classroom on Thursday, she was excited because it had come out at school (with some help from her teacher).  That night we put the tooth in the "Tooth Fairy" pillow and waited to see what would happen.  There was some discussion on the topic of the value of a tooth in our home.  When I was young, I received a quarter per tooth.  A quarter is no longer the going rate.  In our one afternoon of tooth fairy research, Brian and I learned that teeth bring much more than a quarter these days.  We also learned that the first tooth lost is worth more than the others.  Olivia said that one boy at her school recently got $20 for his first tooth.  Yeah- that's not happening here.  She ended up with $5 for her first tooth and will be getting $1 for each tooth lost in the future.  Although she was excited to find the money, she has been more excited by the fact that she lost the tooth.  She has been eager to show it to anyone who will look.

Winter Running

Our little group of runners kicked off the new year at the Cool Shark 5k in Brunswick.  This was the first time that my cousin Jessica had run with us, and I think she liked it a lot.  The course was nice, and there was plenty of food at the finish line.  We all ran well, and many of us received age group awards.  I finished at 25:41 and placed first in my new 35-39 age group.  Nothing makes you feel old like going up an age group.

Here we are- getting ready to start.

A few weeks later, I completed The Run 5 (5 miler) with Anna and Krystial.  This run benefits the Wolfson Children's Hospital.  Anna is an avid supporter of this race.  I mentioned this last year, but I'll say it again- this is a tough course.  The big plus is that the last few miles are on the Riverwalk, which is one of my absolute favorite places to run in Jacksonville.  I finished in 44:05 and placed fourth in my age group.  After running, we rewarded ourselves with an early dinner at The Olive Garden.  That certainly made all of our effort worth it!

The Father-Daughter Dance

 

The annual father-daughter dance was held on the same night as Gigi's retirement dinner.  Although she was sad to miss the dinner, Olivia was excited to attend the dance.  This is an event that she always looks forward to.  She has been planning her "look" for weeks.  She decided to wear the dress that Brian and I gave her for her birthday (the American Girl dress).  I curled her hair and put a tiny bit of make-up on her.  This is the first year that I've let Olivia wear make-up to the dance, so she thought that she was "the stuff".  Brian knocked on the door at the designated time and presented Olivia with a wrist corsage.  After a few pictures, the two set off for Captain Joe's and then to the dance.  Judging from what Olivia has said and the pictures, everyone had a great time.  Olivia spotted her cousins at the dance and spent a lot of time dancing with them.  This is such a great event, and I'm so glad that Olivia gets to do this with her daddy each year.

Retirement Sweet Retirement

 This post is all about my mama.  After 27+ years of working at the post office (while juggling kids, a home, and many other responsibilities), she has retired.  Her last day was January 31st.  My dad changed his work schedule so that he could be her last customer.  He bought a book of forever stamps.    She certainly went out with a bang.  In addition to receiving numerous flower arrangements, cards, and boxes of candy, the editor of The Blackshear Times made mama the subject of his weekly editorial.  He praised her hard work, friendliness, and dedication to her work.  Everything he said was absolutely true, and these same sentiments were expressed by her co-workers at her retirement dinner on Saturday night.  Person after person recounted their experiences with Mama.  At the end of the evening, they presented her with a framed copy of her editorial and silver charm bracelet with an envelope charm that had the dates of her employment engraved on it.  I am so excited for mama to begin her retirement, and I look forward to daddy joining her in a few months.

The last time she'll ever punch a clock.

Cookie Kick-off

In January, Olivia's girl scout troop joined a few other local troops for a cookie kick-off pajama party. During this event, the girls went to different stations and completed cookie-related activities.  I was a parent volunteer in the "fishing for cookie money" room.  Here, the girls learned to count money and give change.  I think it made them feel like grown-ups to be given this responsibility. Later in the evening, the girls were treated to popcorn and a 3-D movie.  Olivia had a great time and came home fired-up about selling cookies.  So far we have taken pre-orders for about 100 boxes.  We should be receiving the cookies in the next week or so.  There's no telling how many boxes we'll end up selling.  Olivia wants to go on the cookie incentive trip to Atlanta, so she is really motivated.    She is certainly enjoying her first year as a scout.