The Scampering Horse

I only ran 15 of those miles. I just want to get that out there right now. Nate was the runner I was supporting. He ran the whole thing. I'll tell you more about him later; I will tell you about Nate and Kelly, and a few things I observed, but first, what is an ultra marathon and why would anyone run one? There are races over marathon distance. A marathon is 26.2 miles, and any distance over that is known as an ultra marathon. This was my first experience with an ultra, besides reading about them in Runner's World. The race, Neverending Summer 100K, was in Colorado beginning in Gould, Colorado: population eight. Seriously, there are eight people who live there. The location was beautiful. Stunning. I saw a few moose, and a bear. My friend Kelly saw a couple of foxes, too. MY PEOPLE: The longer the distance, the more I feel that these are my kind of people, and this is my kind of race. Most of the runners I saw run and hike the race. The hills (aka mountains) were too steep ...

My booty is big and my pants don't fit. I am one of those people who have been blessed. Bless with thinness. Blessed with a moderate appetite and a love of exercise. I am just totally beyond blessed. If you want to unfollow or unfriend me because of my blessedness, please do. For the past year I have been attending cross-fit, and running like crazy. It helps keep my depression at bay, and I really love it. I love the people I have these adventures with. I love the feeling of doing something out of the ordinary. I love the simplicity of running and the way my breath matches the rhythm of my steps. I love having the goal of a race on the horizon while I face the mundane tasks of life. I love going to cross-fit in the mornings and doing crazy workouts I never think I can do. But my movement has consequences. It seems that all of this incessant movement of the glutes has developed them into larger than proportionate items on my backside. The look like the nubs on an acorn squash th...

My cat is gone again. He goes to the neighbor across the street and two doors down. I don't know her, but she seems nice. I mean, as nice as someone who periodically keeps my cat for a few months can be.  And I let it happen. Mostly, because I hate conflict. Partly, because I respect the fact that my cat hates my other two cats. Finally, I let it happen because it is kind of funny.  Only a cat would go back and forth between two households like it is nothing. Because cats are finicky. My friend Cammie sent me an article about a cat who had been lost for two years, and then the cat showed up at the neighbors house. Then, the two families lawyered up and are fighting for custody of the cat. Is the cat old enough to choose? So my cat will take off for weeks to months at a time and then come waltzing back. We've had him since he was a kitten and he moved with us from New Mexico to Nebraska. When we catch him, we try to Stockholm syndrome him into relating to his ca...

The Courthouse, better out than in, I always say.   Lady taking her parrot on a walk as one does. That notebook is for note taking at the Denver Aquarium. That face is for adorable. Same notebook, new face. The face of a girl petting sting rays. She loved the two finger petting of the sting rays. Looking face to face at a weird fish. A fish thinking we are the weird ones. The most photogenic of all sea creatures, the jelly fish. Showoffs. Art museum face. We LOVED the art museum so much.

My five year old has her best friend over. They are sitting on the couch across from me and they are pretending like they got married and kissed inside a giant slinky and now they are kind and queen of the jungle. I don't know how to feel about this. They didn't ACTUALLY kiss. But, the two of them did make actual kissing sounds with the grown up lion animals they are using to portray themselves. Now they have a baby. They are deciding whether they want to have one or two babies. My daughter is sure she wants two. Despite the innocence, my stomach is doing flips. These are heavy topics for such little people to be discussing. They are such good parents to their babies, which are small white tigers. I never thought I would have a preschooler with a boyfriend. We have a family policy that boyfriends are for college. But this is the child who has taught me "You know nothing," and "I will do what I want."  She has shown me that life has more possibilities th...

Colorado Marathon. May 1, 2016. Mission accomplished. I ran that far. That far being 26.2 miles. This was my first marathon. Apparently 1% of the population will ever run a marathon. Those who run marathons make up for the rest of the population, however, because "marathoners" are a thing. To run a marathon, I had to wake up at 3:15am. I stayed with my training buddies: Kelly, Shelly, Lupita, and Amanda. Kelly was my bed buddy. She had the softest pajamas ever. Also, before we fell asleep around 10 pm she said,"We will be sleeping as long as we are running tomorrow." It was the most annoying truth I had ever heard. The training that led up to the marathon created a huge bond with these women. I admire each of them, and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have such high caliber friends. Kelly is extraordinary. She is one of those people who makes things happen. Shelly is hilarious and loyal. Lupita is strong and loves deeply. Amanda has the ability to mak...

Stewart. That is the name of my old and broken refrigerator that came with the house. Stewart had an unattractive pastiness about him- with his cream colored exterior. He was a bit of a mess, crumbs strewn about his doorway seals (that weren't quite trustworthy), and fingerprints on everything in sight. He was also unreliable, pretending to be a fridge but in reality, functioning as a  freezer. I would put celery into the crisper, and Stewart would give me back green stringy popsicles next day. Stewart wasn't housebroken either. He peed on the floor constantly. Can I tell you how hard it is to eat a diet of numerous vegetables with a mutinous refrigerator? It is nigh unto impossible. Stewart was the worst, and as much as I wanted him to work out for economic reasons, he had to go. The thing about replacing our refrigerator is that we also replaced the freezer that sat on top of him. The freezers name was Glenda. Glenda was not as problematic as the naughty box she sat on top...

We recently made a trip to Apache Junction, Arizona. Ian's dad had a heart attack, and died, and was brought back to life through CPR and intubation.  For a couple of weeks there I had a lot of worry about him and what it would mean to Ian, and my own grief to process. Thinking about mortality is hard. Dads in the ICU is hard. Over our spring break we were able to visit the Mesa area, spend some time with family, hang out briefly with friends, and enjoy the sun. Also soda. Turns out I love soda, especially mixed sodas such as can be purchased from Sodalicious, and Soda Rush. I prefer Soda Rush, and my drink is the Miguel: Coke, coconut, and fresh lime. It is the best thing ever. Some other highlights from the trip were meeting my facebook friends the Rogans, having lunch at Cafe Rio with Janette Skinner, Thai food with Boyce and Jeremy (college friends) going to the beautiful Gilbert temple on my own, rock wall climbing with Jenifer Hall, visiting w ith Kristi Harris, getting photo...

I remember the smell of pencil dust. Do you know that smell? The aroma, and yes, for me it was an aroma, that came from placing my yellow pencil in the correctly gauged metal hole,  twisting the handle, feeling the tension on the pencil, and the dust sprinkle from the bottom container, because that seal was not made for keeping dust in. That dust represented words I hadn't yet written, or a test I was about to do well on. It was the promise of writing. Sometimes the sun would hit the dust just right, and it would look like pixie dust. Pencils are my jam. I like Ticonderoga pencils best. Their lead is like chocolate, and the erasers work like smooth operators. Mistakes with Ticonderoga pencils feel like an adventure, and a chance to feel a pencil live up to its full potential. I have always wanted to be a teacher. Since I was a little girl. Well, a teacher and a writer. I am figuring out the seasons and reasons for each of these roles. This year I really dove into the role o...

I witnessed a shocking confession.  It was Christmas time, the snow was on the ground. There was a beautifully decorated Christmas tree as a backdrop. My adorable friends with freckles sprinkling her nose says,"I hate the song Silent Night . I really hate it." I have made a realization about myself that is equally, if not more shocking, and definitely more hideous. You know those pictures of newborn babies all smooshed up with their cute little hands tucked under their chins? It freaks me out. Newborn baby pictures give me the creeps. Somehow my brain sees the photos as baby boudoir, or the babies look like they are lifeless and wrapped up in mummy cloth. Why do people find a baby wrapped up like a zombie adorable? Why is putting flowers or an animal hat on the naked baby even cuter? I don't know how this fad caught on, but it really, really caught on. My question is, are there others out there? Or, am I alone in my monstrosity?

I have three goals for this year: 1) be grateful for my home, 2) keep writing, and 3) accomplish running goals I will be writing about the third goal. Ever since I ran this Ultra Ragnar in August of this year, I feel like the only limits are the ones I set on myself. It is kind of silly that running would open the world to me, but for whatever reason, it has. Like traveling has, but I can do it anywhere. I want to see how far I can go. So, this year I have registered, planned out my training schedule, and even started running long runs on Saturdays in preparation for my distance goals. But despite the schedule, I know that I am already training. One of my realizations while I was running the Ragnar that I didn't train for, is that I did train for it. Not by running long distances though, which is what I had previously thought I needed to do in order to run long distances. I thought I was not ready to run 30 miles because had only been doing cross-fit, yoga, and small runs h...

If you haven't seen the new Star Wars movie yet, you didn't care enough to avoid the spoilers anyway. The movie has been out for weeks, and you could have asked to watch it for Christmas. If you asked for ANYTHING else, your priorities are already established, and I have no pity for you. That movie was freaking awesome. Where am I on the Star Wars fangirl spectrum? Truth is, I haven't seen all of the original movies. I want to see them now. Currently, I have seen bits and pieces. I know Princess Leia wore a gold bikini, and Yoda talked backwards, and Luke was good with the saber and Darth Vader was his father, and I liked those Ewoks very much. I saw the Prequels that the true fans hated, and I loved them. They are what first got me interested in the stories and characters. Then I watched the animated Clone Wars with my husband at night on Netflix. Those cartoons were so good! Ahsoka Tano is one of the most interesting characters I've ever met. Her cool ears...

"He looks weyed" said my two year old little boy. "Yeah, why is he moving like that?" responded my four year old girl. "He is weawing bwuw," said the boy. "I like the guwl betta," commented my little girl. And thus the night proceeded, with little voices giving live commentary in my ears. Occasionally they would get out of their seats and try one of the moves. We were in the front row, so there was some room up near the stage. To me the first dance was about for sure about the wind and maybe some old vs new. The dance was choreographed in Nebraska, and the wind is a strong force here, hard to ignore. The first dance did not have music. It was a man and a woman. The man was dressed in blue and the woman was dressed in earth tones: a green blouse and a pleated khaki skirt. She also had leg warmers. One of the leg warmers fell down partway through the dance. To me the man represented the fight against the weather and change. His movements wer...