we have had a FULL week with more excitement still to come.
life skills being taught....
waffle was naughty and completely dorky as usual. he got on the couch while i was still home! how is he smart enough to know not to get on when craig is home and that i won't do anything? it's crazy. he slept with his leg up in the air for a long time.
the kids tried to dress up the chickens with american girl doll clothes. but realized chickens don't have arms to make it work. it was funny to try though.
one of these days those chicks will be gone & we will know that they learned how to hot wire Barbie's car...
i like having lunch with my kids. i wish i had done it with my older kids. i didn't know that was a thing that people did. your kids would love it if you showed up too. (with no other siblings... just you... and fast food)
campfires are pretty much the best thing ever. i have tried my best to keep all s'more ingredients stocked all all times at our house.
mother's day was a very nice day. i try very hard to keep expectations VERY low and that helps to keep the day flowing well. i was treated to homemade cards by the little girls.... and cashed in that free coffee immediately.
after church i went in my bedroom and shut the door and relaxed while my family made the entire lunch. what a nice treat to come out to a completely set table AND food.
then i went straight back in my room while they cleaned it up.
best mother's day i have had in many years.
gardening this year in pots only....this is a huge relief to me. the thought of gardening was LOOMING over me and i wasn't excited about it. but this is perfect!
lauren is done with high school. forever. it's so crazy how fast that passed! we are so proud that she made it through with excellent grades and can't wait to see her future unfold.
her graduation is sunday afternoon. it's been an emotional week....
this is what happens on a daily basis here. if we don't do the dishes every 18-24 hours... it looks like this. NO JOKE. we even ate on paper plates that day!
i sported pigtails today. after a 3 week break.... i went out for a run with my friends this morning.
it was short & sweet but felt so good to remember that i did still know how to run. :)
as i drank my second cup of coffee i looked down and realized i was a rainbow of colors.
so... we have a very busy weekend filled with parties to attend & to give, basketball, shopping, cleaning, rainbow cake making, graduation cermony and grandparents coming.
well.... i did it! it is hard to believe that i actually have done 13.1 miles. but it's TRUE!!
whoop whoop!
let me recap the weekend as it went down.
on friday, mr. duerksen left with four of my kids for a bball tournament out of town. so to begin my girls weekend i got a full 24 hours ALONE. um...yeah...that rocked! then...craig accidentally took my car keys so i couldn't even leave my house and you know what? it was such a blessing. i HAD to stay home and just be alone. ahhhhhh.
i did laundry, cleaned the chicken's box and watched crazy stupid, Love. (i love that movie!)
:)
saturday morning i put on my favorite shirt to bring good vibes my way.... ha!
my friends picked me up since i had no car. and we took off for our road trip! as usual... talk talk talk all the way there.
we picked up our packets with our bib inside it and shopped the expo a little. i bought sporty sunglasses...you know i needed them after all that fashion wear all winter. i hate the way the sport sunglasses look. so much. but i can wear them with my hat so it was needed.
they had this wall with the names of all of the people who died in the OKC bombing. the people the race was honoring. the first 168 bib numbers were given to them. it was emotional.
one of the best parts of marathon training is getting "CARB LOAD" the week of the race. and believe me... i did.
we went back to our hotel and right to bed. our wake up time was 4:00 AM. oy veh. i slept terrible as expected and leaped out of bed at the alarm. my roommate was pretty surprised by that. :)
we geared up with all our running stuff...gummy energy chews, wipes, kleenex, money (? we didn't know??), body glide, hair ties, hats, sunglasses, our bib numbers, ipods, phones and layers. we waited in the cool air for 35 minutes for the "every 15 minutes" shuttle that was suppised to be there at 4:30. blah.
then headed to a sunrise service at The Survivor Tree. again... emotional.
it's hard to see but that is because it was completely dark outside...it was 5:30 AM. we sang worship songs... Bless the Lord Oh My Soul and Amazing Grace were too hard to even sing. i was too choked up. i just closed my eyes and listened.
the pastor read from Jesus Calling and it was just so appropriate.
we made a stop at gear check.
(use gear check if you do a race... super easy and convenient)
we made one last pit stop... porta potties....gross.
then we found our pace group and waited. with 10,000 other people. they had 168 seconds of silence for those who died in OKC. i cried. and prayed. i was getting VERY nervous with all the unknowns... can i do this? am i safe? what if i get hurt? what if i fall? you know... all that stuff that Satan loves to put in your mind when big things are happening. i texted craig and kimberlee. i needed one last boost of love before i took off. they gave it to me. :)
some of my friends are conscience of their time when they run. these were free tattoos you could put on to know your pace. i was not remotely interested. i can only do what i can do at that moment. not anyone else's time.
the gun went off and we stood still for a looooong time because we were SO far back in the line 14 minutes after the gun went off we crossed the start line and began our first half marathon!
and it was fun!
there was loud music. people in their driveways all along the way. some had water... some had beer.... donuts... signs... all SO SWEET!
then the hills began. geez louise. there were so many hills on this course. we didn't train for that. but we did it. i mean come on....LOOK AT THAT HILL!!!
and that wasn't even the bad hill that everyone told us about.
the sun was coming up as we came through this tunnel. it was beautiful light... i wished i had my big camera. (and that i was not running... ha)
firefighters were all through the race. which made me tear up every time we came up on them. they were sweating like crazy walking with all that gear on... what amazing men!
we ran right past the capital building. that was really cool. and the sun was just behind it... GORGEOUS.
we hit the halfway mark and decided on taking a picture. try # 1 try #2 we were honestly smiling.
i repeated to myself so many times "God's spirit is with you" "present your body as worship" and "Glorify God with your body"
i made it 9.5 miles before walking!! that is AMAZING. i had never run more than 8 miles before that... so i had my personal best that day.
around mile 11 i was feeling a little delirious. and i said to my friend "have you seen Taledega Nights?" and i quoted this line.
i know i know. ricky bobby and carl naughton jr. are complete blasphermors through that entire movie. but... i quoted it because as i was dragging and weak..
i said "well....i am picturing my jesus in running shorts and nike frees...running beside me"
we giggled a bit and decided Jesus probably would have been way faster than me.
i walked a bit, ran a bit, walked a bit and then at mile 12 an older man on the sides controlling traffic, looking like morgan freeman, leaned in towards me and did a quiet clapping and said quietly
"let's go. let's go. run. you can do it. let's go"
and it was so quiet that i just listened to him.
i ran.
and suddenly there was the finish line way up ahead!!
i turned to my friend and said "i am so glad you made me do this! THANK YOU so much!"
i meant it. it was such an awesome morning!
i took out my headphones and took it all in. people were all cheering and screaming for the runners. it was so cool. big races are such a positive atmosphere! every runner feels like a rockstar.
and there i was. done. THIRTEEN MILES. 2:46:48 it's not fast but i don't care one single bit. i did it. (nice glasses.....)
after we caught our breath, regrouped, ate oranges, bagels and bananas to refuel, we headed to the memorial again.
MANY people ran for those they lost in the OKC bombing. the memorial had all kinds of sites like this.
we made it to the shuttles.
i was beginning to feel sick.
then i got sick.
and i was miserable.
my body was in full-on-freak-out mode.
it was not pretty.
my friends let me sleep for awhile and after an hour and a half i was better.
i rallied.
i ate a quick lunch and then it was time for massage.
it's what we do. we run hard and then we go to the spa. the best way to run a race. period.
then dinner and a DELICIOUS drink to celebrate! i am so proud of all of us!!
we trained hard for months. with 15 kids between the four of us...and all of our jobs...and busy lives...
i knew i had to run this morning and the first thing i thought when i opened my eyes was "NO."
but i did it. two of my buddies were there and we ran five miles. the middle felt good and then suddenly i said "HOW ARE WE NOT DONE YET!?!" i just wanted to be finished!
but i feel so good now!
we are still running in 20 degrees. we have every bit of us covered except little bits of our faces that our masks don't cover. we wear two or three layers on top, pants, heavy socks, gloves, a neck guard, a hat and sunglasses. and we are freezing!
i can't wait for warm weather!!
this summer i would LOVE to be MEG'S SUMMER OF SHORTS.
it's been a long time since i have worn shorts. i owned one pair last year. and i didn't like wearing them. so if i want to WEAR them then i will have to DO SOMETHING about this... like more exercise. but all this fun workout gear makes the thought of that more bearable.
