My Friday Adventure.

Today was an in-service/grading day at school. I always look forward to in-service days because, despite the boring meetings, it feels like a day off when there aren't any students around.
I was a little more relaxed getting ready for work, and I thought I'd really go out on a limb and put on the earrings Ross gave me for Christmas. People are so used to seeing us PE folk in shorts and T's that it kind of freaks 'em out when we show up in "real" clothes. Actually - and this is just an unrelated tangent - on these days without students, Jess and I show up in our "nice" clothes because we can and everyone else shows up wearing their sweats and sweatshirts. One teacher who I always think dresses to the nines came in an outfit that I would wear to bed. It was the frumpiest sweatsuit ever. I was kind of shocked.
Back to my story. I was at my mirror putting in my first earring, but I had lotion on my hands and it shot into the sink. I lunged to catch it, and in the process of saving the first earring, I threw the second one straight down the drain. Well, lucky for me it got caught by some build-up in the drain and didn't go all the way down. I ran for some tweezers, but my hand was shaking and I was successful only at pushing it farther down. Frustrated, I grabbed a crochet hook and taped a magnet to it. I stuffed that down the sink a couple of times, and brought up nothing but more "build-up." The next time I stuck it down the magnet slipped off. Now I have an earring and a magnet in my drain. After school I came back for round two. I found my longest crochet hook, attached another magnet with packaging tape, and started fishing. Well, I got the first magnet partway up the drain...then lost it, so I went for my flashlight. It's one of those little mag lights that you twist to change the intensity of the light. I twisted it a little to aggressively. The next thing I knew, the top half of my flashlight was also down my drain. It was not one of my finer moments.
I will say that after some severe frustration and a large dose of patience I managed to fish out all of the flashlight pieces. I still haven't recovered the earring. I'm not giving up yet.

The End.

The Ross-hole drivin' me crazy.

Here's why:

Ross: Hey Bob?

Me: What?

Ross: Can I see your butt?

Me: No.

Ross: Can I touch your butt?

Me: No.

Ross: Do you want to see my butt?

Me: No.

Ross: Do you want to touch my butt?

Me: No.

Ross: Hey Bob?

Me: What?

Ross: Butt dance!

(Picture Ross channeling a little Beyonce here.)

Me: Groan!

Eugene Marathon

Six days and counting...

"I'm so nervous I could die, absolutely die." I'm not really. I'm excited. It should be fun, and the weatherman says it may even be sunny. I really, really, really, really really want to run under 3:20. My goal pace is between 7:20 and 7:30 per mile which will be between 3:12 and 3:16. I think I can do it. I will definitely be starting out on the conservative side. No need to do a repeat of Portland. Bleck. The worst and most painful race of my career. Okay, that's enough of that. Can I just leave you with a little Q time please, thank you, and you're welcome. :)

Marathon Monday, The Ross-hole Returns, and Other Nonsense

I'm sure everyone is very well aware that the Boston marathon took place yesterday. Anyone? Ryan Hall didn't win it, but he did post the fastest time ever by an American on that course. The men's course record was blown away by the winner. He improved on the previous best by about 90 seconds. Those guys run incredibly fast. The women do too. Their average mile pace for the entire 26.2 miles is faster than I can run for a single mile. Incredible.

Ross finally got home from his weekend hunt in Eastern Oregon. He didn't come home empty handed either. We currently have a turkey 'chilling' in our fridge. I'll post some pictures when I get them. He has some good stories.

Last thing, team handball anyone? Has anyone ever played before? I'm trying to figure out if it will be a fun game for PE students. I've never played or taught it before. We're trying to come up with a new unit so we can skip the dreaded pickleball.

The best brand name ever!

On my drive down to Rogue River a week or so ago, I stopped in Southerlin, which is about the half way point. I stopped because I was over hydrated and needed to expel some liquid (I had to pee folks). I stopped at DQ to take care of business. I needed to rehydrate and refuel with an ice cream bar...obviously. Anyway, the reason I'm sharing this is that I noticed the brand stamped on the hinge of the bathroom stall and it cracked me up. They were called Hiney Hiders. Tell me that's not funny. Just hiney by itself is funny. Those of you who know me, know it's on my list of "grandma words," and should never be said aloud until you're like sixty. Hiney. Hiney Hider. Ha. Funny every time. You're welcome.

Embarassing Moment: #831

I woke up at 6:30 this morning (weird how that actually feels like sleeping in on a weekend), took care of the dog, grabbed a snack, threw on some semi-clean clothes, pulled my greasy hair back into a ponytail, and headed to Keizer for a run. Basically, all that to say I was looking HOT. I ran a good six miles, then came back to meet some runner friends for a few more. My people didn't show up, but I took advantage of the break to get some water and Luna energy chews (glorified candy) from my car. I had my car key in the little hidden pocket inside my shorts. While I'm standing there, cars keep driving into the parking lot with Little League kids. I figured I was a sight for sore eyes, parents were probably guarding their kids' eyes, but I didn't really care. I started tucking my key back into the flimsy little key pocket along the inside of my shorts' waistband but it slipped and fell into the underwear lining of the shorts. (Another good reason for always wearing underwear even if the shorts are lined, thank you very much.) Well, I reached down my shorts for the key just as another Little League vehicle pulled into the parking lot. I tried to fake like I was just tucking in my shirt. Unfortunately, it was a cropped shirt that barely reached my shorts, so I don't think I really pulled that off.
Tall, greasy, sweaty girl with a hand down her shorts - that's all that they saw.
I was horrified for about five seconds. Then I fished the key out of my shorts and took off on my next nine miles.
The end.

Results

Last weekend was the Pear Blossom Run in Medford, where "Everyone's a Winner." Pphht! Whoever came up with that logo? A) The same guy who doesn't want to hurt anyone's self-esteem and has consequently created a self-seeking, self-serving generation. B) The slow guy who has created such soft standards that the old "out of shape" is the new "embrace your shape." C) Your mom.

Ummm anyway. Last weekend was the 10mi Pear Blossom run. Mama Joe and I competed and we were both pretty pleased with ourselves, I think. We both ran faster than last year. I was 9th female overall and Mom was 10th masters female overall, not bad for a lady with six toes. Seriously. She grew blisters on both feet that were big enough to be toes. But her new shoes were really cute. (Before her feet bled all over them - but don't worry that stuff comes out with a little bleach.)

The second big deal of the weekend was: The Turkey Hunt.
I mentioned a couple of posts ago that Ross would be taking Ryan's younger brother on a youth turkey hunt. That was last weekend as well, the weekend before the actual season begins. Ross went scouting and tried to find some land owners to talk to on Friday morning in the Lebanon area, but came up empty on both accounts. I wasn't holding out my hopes for them to get anything, but I was sure they would have a good time regardless. Zach was pumped. Ross was pumped. Ryan, who was going despite his heavy workload (it's tax season), was probably tired, but I'm sure he was a little pumped too.
They had to get up and rolling close to 3:00AM. No thanks, that's still night time. You shouldn't be up and moving at that hour, but they were.
I can't give the details and the excitement of it all the way they can, but the short of it is, they found the turkey's. They were sitting in a bunch of hens, and kept calling them in waiting for a tom to take the bait. Their patience paid off, and after some serious army crawling by Zach and Ross, Zach spotted their bird. He took just one shot, and nailed it. Now, just to add a little context, Zach is about as big around as a broom. I'm not sure he'd ever even shot a shotgun before, and Ross' gun is heavy with a terrific kick. This was Zach's first successful hunt as far as I know. He was one happy kid. When Ross was telling me the story, I wanted to give a little shout, but decided the patrons of Costco might not approve. The turkey was about as big as Zach, but he did his best to pack it back to the truck before big brother had to help out. I think they said it had about an 8inch beard and was close to 20lbs. The pictures follow.

Happy Birthday!

Messy Jesse, Jesse Dale!
You're 23 and lookin' swell!
It's your birthday, now listen here,
I've got your song, now have no fear!

Jesse's my bro, and I think he's weird,
especially when he tries to grow a beard.
He's growing up, that's for sure,
but he's still so very immature.

He's the baby of the fam.
He just looks like a big ol' man.
Don't be fooled by his size,
When he watches Old Yeller, he still cries.

Today is your day, it's all about you,
and I'm part of the Happy Birthday Crew.
I'm writing this rhyme to tell everyone,
give Jesse 23 spankings, it'll be fun!

Happy Birthday!

Easter Sunday

Easter, next to Christmas, is most definitely my favorite holiday. I love Easter Sunday. It's a day of celebration, a reminder that Jesus is alive, and it's a day to spend with friends and family. I always associate Easter with sun, lilacs, and girls in little summer dresses. I'm not sure why. We live in Oregon. I think in my lifetime we've had all of two Easters that were actually sunny. Lilacs are rarely blooming in time for Easter. There are always little girls in Easter dresses though. At least there is some small amount of reality to my Easter ideals.
This Easter was fantastic. We got to celebrate in Aurora with Shae, Ryan, and Quentin, my parents and brother, Ryan's parents, grandma, niece, and brother, and Rachel, a Marquez family friend.

This is Zach:

Ross is his new best friend. Ross will be taking him on a youth turkey hunt this coming Saturday. The boy was decked out in camouflage. I think he's so excited he's already losing sleep over it.

This is the egg hunt:

This is Ross' best friend searching the trash for eggs at Ross' prompting and encouragement. There were no eggs in that trash. I think Zach might need to re-think this friendship.

Jayelle, had a little more reliable help...


...but then she got distracted by the chickens and the real eggs.


Dad and Quentin bonding.


The cutest family: Take One

Take Two: and can I just mention that Shae made Quentin's suit this week. It matched her dress. His pants were even pleated. So cute.


One good lookin' crew. (I promise I dressed up more, I just got cold and had to change before this picture.)


Ross getting the "I'm trying to keep a happy face here, but keep your hands off my butt! speech."




The spread, or at least part of it.

Shae made two types of soup, two leek and potato casseroles, challah rolls, three pork roasts, tri tip, asparagus, and for the appetizers she homemade two types of crackers and dip. Then there were all the canned goodies that she broke out, the enormous and delicious salad Barbara brought, and dessert: two cakes, a pie, and two types of ice cream. Do you think we had enough food? Good grief. Then we all rolled ourselves to our beds because we were too full and fat to walk.

The End

P.S. Yes, my mom still gives us Easter baskets. What? (Thanks Mom!)