Happy Halloween!

As per usual, the weather here tanked today. It was 80 yesterday and about 36 today. It ALWAYS does that on Halloween. Luckily we planned ahead and got a warm costume this year.

Game 4...

Today is the day that the Rockies HAVE to win. It has been very hard to watch the last three games, so hopefully today is the turn around. I thought our new hats would have been the thing, but they didn't work.

I am getting a little stir crazy not working out. I have to go out and do something soon, but I am so scared of getting hurt again. That was not fun. I am thinking of doing a Turkey Trot race on Thanksgiving, but then I can't do the pedal, pump and pilates at the studio....so I can't decide.

That's all, not too much to update. Star Wars week starts tomorrow. I like having the office hours be more consistent and focusing. It makes me feel a tad productive.

KC in Pictures

As my devoted readers and the internets know, the whole reason for this blog was to capture my experiences training for the KC half-marathon and getting my lifetime membership in WW. So far both have been a complete bust. But at least I have my loyal followers.

I was not able to run in the KC half-mary because of this:

My butt and hip are still very painful. But I was able to go to KC to cheer on my sister as she ran in her first half marathon in several years!! Here is my trip in detail.....

Tim, me, my Mom and Dad made the trip. My brother couldn't go because he had to work. That was very sad, but he might come to visit in December! My Mom and Dad are always so excited to see Mary. They are always asking about her and wanting to know the details of her life. She says I tell them too much. I am trying to stop.
When we arrived in Kansas City on Thursday, we did what we always do when we get to KC. We ate at George Brett's! It is my favorite place and always fun. I hope they stay in business.
That's my Mom. She is a very good cheerleader and always up for taking silly pictures with me! She is very fun.

After dinner we went back to Mary's to drink more. I was very happy about that...
I think Tim was too! Although the next morning he had to do some work:

Friday we went to the race expo to pick up the packet and see what free stuff they had. It was a very nice expo. Tim and I went to lunch with my aunts and uncles. Mom won the cake eating contest we had at the end...

Friday night we made the special pre-race dinner at Mary's house. It was pasta with Italian sausage, red peppers and onions. We also had salad, bread and drinks. Mary decided to drink darker beer before races for the nutrients. It seemed to work out for her!

After dinner we all put the finishing touches on our signs for Mary's race. We wanted to make them readable from a far distance while she was speeding by:

Early the next morning, Mary and Tim and I headed for the start line

It was still quite dark out as we parked and headed down to Crown Royal Center. This is when we encountered the first little trouble of our trip...

The lines for the porta-potties were SO LONG. Mary wasn't very happy at this point:

She told me to never arrive too late to a race and to always go to the bathroom just before you leave home. I think this is good advice.

She finally made it through the line!! But sadly the actual race had already started by this time. But we assured her that the chip time was the most important thing. Success! She is running out of the potty and heading to the start line. GO MARY!! Tim and I were able to see her at mile 3, my parents saw her at mile 6, Lisa, Hazel, Tim and I saw her at mile 8 1/2 and then we all met up at the finish line to see her there!

Here she is at mile 6 right on the plaza!

Here is Lisa and Hazel coming to cheer Mary on. Lisa is the reason we all agreed to do this in the first place.

Mary ran so fast!! She finished in 1 hour 52 minutes. She ROCKS! Here she is at the end of the race drinking a beer. It was 9:15 in the morning.

Mary only had one minor injury from the race. She hadn't cut her toenails quite short enough, so there was some bleeding.

The rest of the day was spent watching the Buffs and baseball. It was a Super Day! (well, except for the Buffs)

Sunday morning we had a Pancake Fest. This is a traditional Family meal. It involves lots of eating. Just like all the other traditional family meals. But this one is in the morning. Tim is the best breakfast maker. He also learned the trick to using Mary's griddle, so the pancakes were Yummy! After breakfast we all climbed into Dad's filthy rental car and headed for a family field trip.I was in the WAY back of the filthy rental car. I tried not to touch any of the surfaces, but that was hard. We headed to tour the WW 1 Memorial. Here we go:
It was an awesome museum and lots of fun. Mary, Tim and I also went to the top of the tower. It was cool up there and had lots of great views.

Sunday night we are LOTS of BBQ and then did the next Traditional Family Field Trip. We always do this part when we are in Kansas City.

I had SO much fun on my trip and Mary did such an awesome job in the race. I hope that next time I can run with her! I love my fall vacation and am pleased with how well it went. See....Happy Ann:

KC Half Marthon

MARY ROCKS!!! She did so great today in the race. She ran it in 1 hour and 52 minutes...which is AWESOME!!! We had so much fun. Tim and I got up at 5:20 so we would be able to have breakfast and head down to the start with Mary. We got there and had a little problem with parking. Then the lines for the porta-potties were GIANT. I will post pictures on Tuesday. Believe me, though.

Once she started (about 4 minutes late) Tim and I headed to mile 3 with our sign and cowbell. We saw her and she saw us and it worked out very well. Then Mom and Dad met her at mile 6. Lisa, Hazel, Tim and I met her again at 8 1/2 miles. She looked great. No fatigue or anything. Then I wanted to see her one more time, but she was going too fast to make it work, so we all headed to the finish area to meet up with Mom and Dad and wait for Mary. We didn't have to wait too long. She came by us faster than I thought she would. She looked great! Other runners looked like they might die at any moment, but she looked like she could keep going.

After she finished we all met up and saw her time and cheered and took lots of pictures. The she got 2 free beers. It was before 9:30 a.m., so she obviously only had two of the three she was allotted! Then we walked to the TWA building and got coffee and talked. After that the marathoners were starting to finish, so we watched them and cheered for awhile. Some people still looked fresh and happy. Others really look awful. Some runners have great strides and look so smooth and others look like they have one flat tire. It is so fun to watch.

Finally we headed home and got some lunch....Pickerman's, yeah!! She wants to watch the CU/KU game in a while, so hopefully that goes well for her.

I will upload some pictures once I get back to Denver!

Rocktober and my ass

This has been the best ROCKTOBER ever! (I also think it is the first one...) The Rockies have been super fun to watch and the World Series is coming to Denver! On Monday we will be signing up for the lottery to get some tickets! WhooooooHoooo!

We all head to KC on Thursday to watch Mary run my half marathon. I hope she gets over her cold and feels FAST. I will have lots of water and food and athletic support to give. I am so excited for her!!

I went to my first physical therapy appointment today. OUCH! I learned that even if I got the steroid injection now it wouldn't work to well because everything is so tight and swollen. I am to do exercises for three weeks that include butt stretches, IT band massages and little side steps. Also lots of ice still. Then if it is loser, but still sore I will get an injection. Technically she said I could do anything exercise-wise that doesn't hurt, so I can walk more and go to the gym soon! But she also said it would likely hurt to do anything. Sad.

Working for a Living

Just kidding.....Not really for a living, just for something to do since I can't work out. I am back to ebay. Seriously this time too. I am going to have everything listed before I travel to KC to watch Mary run my race.

I hope that everything sells nice and easy. And for a LOT of money.

It is easy to work at home. I can get up and stretch and walk about like I am supposed to every 30 minutes. Maddie can snuggle my feet on her little bed. I can easily do laundry.

If I just can make myself get up with Tim gets up and let him buy me coffee each morning this plan will work!!

pain in the butt....

It is still there. Not so much better yet. I went to my primary care dr yesterday to try and get a cortisone shot, but no luck. I have my third ultrasound treatment tomorrow. I am icing much more consistently and I walked a bit today.

I am watching the Rockies win their second of three games needed to move on in the playoffs. The next game is in Denver on Saturday. Fun!! Not that I am 1.) a big fan of the Rockies, 2.) a big fan of the National League, 3.) or honestly even that big a baseball fan anymore, but it is FUN to watch the local team do so well. And I love that the whole month has been declared ROCKTOBER! I love fun names for stuff like that. And I especially love the the Broncos can't seem to win anything. That makes it all better.

Called third strike ends it all!! Awesome!! Go Rockies!!

This was supposed to be our fall vacation weekend to Glenwood Springs with golf, hiking, eating out, hotel sex, hot springs pool, etc.... But we decided to cancel since I just don't feel good. Hopefully we can still have a nice weekend here. Tim is still taking tomorrow off and we are going to take a small drive in the mountains to see the leaves before they are all gone.

I guess that is my update. Not much to report. Still not allowed to do anything. Not even stretch. Just move every 30 minutes and ice my ass.

Bum Bum

HAHA!!! That's such a funny title. I just now thought of it, too!!!

I have a bad butt. I pinched a nerve (sciatic...?sp?) and it makes pain shoot down like fire to my foot, and then makes my foot all tingly and ouchy.

I also have bursitis of the hip. Which makes my hip scream in pain anytime anything touches it. Basically I have to not do anything except stretch, ice and take advil for a week and then we will reassess. I also get these tingly ultrasound treatments on my butt three times a week.

In other news, today Maddie is going to get a blessing at my parents church. It is her first. We used to take Bo each year and it is always a nice thing. Our Deacon used to thank Bo for being such a nice blessing for her family and tell her how much happiness she brought. I think they will tell Maddie something similar, but also that she is the bestest snuggler ever created. And that she should not stop.

Really, that's the big difference between Bo and Maddie. Bo was fiercely independent. She would only snuggle when she felt like it, which wasn't often. She hated when I touched her paws. And she enjoyed just being in the room with people.

Maddie on the other hand snuggles so aggressively that people tend to get hurt. She MUST be in the middle of her people at all times. She likes to touch my hand with her paw and I hold her paw while we watch TV. In the car she likes to sit on my lap and at night she snuggles right in between us under the covers.

October!

Fall is in full swing here in Englewoood. Leaves are changing and the air smells yummy and crisp. The sky has been an amazing blue with almost no clouds for a week.

I am injured. I keep trying to ignore it, but something bad happened. I have a call into a physical therapist to see what she can tell me. I can't walk right on it and it really hurts.

This is Star Wars Week!! I am going to get everything all up for auction that I have been organizing. I hope it goes well!!

Maddie is full into wearing her sweater. She will not take it off and she just waits in the morning for someone to put it on for her. She is TOO cute. We have also been practicing wearing her Halloween costume. She is going to be a giant pumpkin. That's too cute!!!