Subaru Distance Classic

I earned my meal on Thanksgiving morning by running the Subaru Distance Classic Half Marathon. This is the second half marathon in the Tri-2B-Tuff racing series. The course was nice- it went through a residential neighborhood in the Orange Park area of Jacksonville. I finished with a new PR of 2:01:00. I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to break the two hour mark and I didn't. Still, this is my fastest time to date and I do have one more half to run before the end of the year. Hopefully I'll meet this goal at the Jacksonville Bank Half Marathon in December.

Decorating the "New" Tree

I'm glad that I didn't buy a new Christmas tree last year because I got a "new" one this year. Actually, Granny Buie got a new one and I got her old one. My "new" tree is definitely an upgrade over my old one. The old one was being held together by tape- literally. The kids were excited about the new tree, and they couldn't wait to decorate it. We started by hanging the ornaments that we had collected during the year. Owen and Olivia each had new ornaments from Disney World, Hilton Head Island, Lancaster, and Saint Augustine. About two minutes after taking the picture with the new ornaments, Owen dropped his Disney ornament and it shattered into a million pieces. So, he is now the proud owner of a non-breakable Cinderella's castle ornament (that use to be mine). The kids had a great time decorating the tree, and the finished product looks pretty good.

Fire Station Field Trip

Olivia's Pre-K class had its second field trip today. The kids were able to visit a local fire station and 911 call center. Brian was off work and was able to go with them. At the fire station the kids learned what to do in case of a fire. They also practiced how to crawl under the smoke and were allowed to help spray the fire hose. Every kid was given a firefighter hat as a reminder of their trip. Here are some pictures from today's excursion.

Poppell Farms Field Trip

This past week Olivia's Pre-K class took their first field trip of the year. They went to Poppell Farms. This trip had originally been scheduled for mid-October, but had to be changed due to bad weather. Brian was going to chaperone, but the rescheduling (and a mandatory conference call) left him unable to attend. Fortunately Cassie was in Blackshear for Halloween and stepped in at the last minute to go with Olivia's class on the field trip. All of the pictures and details of the trip were provided by Cassie. Olivia's class participated in a variety of activities- they saw farm animals, took a hay ride, played on the bouncy thing, and rode the cow train. Each student was also allowed to choose a small pumpkin to bring home. Olivia told me that she picked a "perfect" pumpkin, and she was very excited to show it to me when I picked her up. Olivia was especially excited that Aunt Cassie was able to go with her. From what I hear, everyone had a great time.

Halloween in the Merry Old Land of Oz

We kept with our tradition of having a family "theme" for Halloween this year by dressing as the characters from the Wizard of Oz. This was a no-brainer given the kids' absolute obsession with this movie. This year's theme was made even more elaborate by Cassie and Quincy- who dressed as Glinda (The Good Witch) and Elphaba (The Wicked Witch). Once again, we met up with our family at Granny Buie's house and then went trick-or-treating in her neighborhood. The kids did a great job of going house to house this year. All Brian and I had to do was pull up to a house in the golf cart, and the kids hopped out and went up to the house on their own. We didn't have to get out of the golf cart much at all. Like last year, we got lots of positive comments about our family costumes. Once it got dark, we went back to Granny's house to help hand out candy to those who were still trick-or-treating. Cassie and Quincy were there holding down the fort, and they had it rocking. They took passing out candy to a whole new level by creating a "Wicked" theme at Granny's house. They even had the "Wicked" soundtrack playing in the background. They were a definite hit, and several people came up to get a picture of the good and wicked witches. Below are some of the pictures we took. As you can probably, we had lots of fun with this theme. Everyone did a good job of getting into character.

The Georgia/Florida Game

My two favorite college football teams are Georgia and anyone who's playing against Florida. The Georgia/Florida rivarly is legendary. Although Georgia hasn't won this game since 2007, they were favored to win this year. I love college football, but I haven't really been able to go to a game since I had Olivia. So, when my dad called last week to ask me if I wanted to go with him to the Georgia/Florida game, I jumped at the chance. (I mean, are you kidding? Go see the Dawgs whoop up on some Gators? Yes, please.) The GA/FL game is always played in Jacksonville, so daddy and I loaded up early on Saturday morning and made our way to EverBank Field. We arrived early enough that we were able to walk around and check out the "scene". We waited for the players to arrive and we cheered for them as they got off the buses. We actually had a really good spot for seeing this (check out my photo of quarterback Aaron Murray). After watching the players enter, we went into the stadium ourselves. I was surprised to learn that Anna and her husband were also at the game and were sitting near-ish to us. I went and talked to them a bit as we watched the teams warm up.



















As kickoff approached, the stadium began to fill with fans. Georgia got off to a slow start, and the score was 17-3 Florida for a good part of the first half. Georgia began to show improvement before halftime, and then made a comeback during the second half. Georgia ended up winning 24-20. The movement from being behind to winning made all of the Georgia fans really excited. The stadium was LOUD, and it was awesome. I'm surprised that I'm not hoarse from all of the cheering I did. When the game was over, the stadium erupted. The fans were cheering all of the way out of the stadium and into the parking lot. To say that the atmosphere was festive would be an understatment. It was so much fun. I know that it will probably be awhile before I get to go to another Georgia game. But, if I only get to go to one game every couple of years, I'm glad that THIS was the game I got to see.

And as a sidenote- Brian was also excited for the win, even though he is a Florida State fan. (No, I don't know how it happened that he likes the Seminoles, but at least he's not a Gator).

Racing for Pinks

This morning was the Racing for Pinks 5K and fun run. I love this local race because it raises money for a good cause (victims of breast cancer) and because there is usually a lot of participation. Speaking of participation, guess who came and did the fun run with Owen and Olivia? Yep, it was my sweet nieces Ava and Claire. Ava rocked it- she ran her mile in 11:11. Claire and Olivia came in shortly thereafter. I ran the fun run with Owen. Well, "run" might be too strong of a word here. I was doing all I could to get him to walk. My good friend Amy was also doing the fun run with her daughter, Molly, so we stuck with them. This actually helped because seeing Molly pass him inspired Owen to pick up the pace a little. Even so, we still finished very close to last place. It was fun, though- and all of the kids received medals for their efforts.

Prior to the fun run, Quincy and I ran the 5K. This is Quincy's second 5K, and she did a really good job. She finished about 10 minutes quicker than her previous race. I also set a new PR with a time of 24:47. This is the first time that I have ever come in under the 25 minute mark, so I was really happy with my run. My time was also good enough to earn first place in my age group. I received a "Racing for Pinks" running towel as a prize. It was a fun morning and a great day to run a 5K.