Is it Summer Yet?

"See, here's the thing..."
I know that I haven't posted in a while. It seems that the end of school is as hectic as the beginning of school. So, I have had to bring work home every night for the past week, and I am sure that it will continue for the next two weeks until I am officially out for the summer.

Last week was not a great week for my running. On my usual 10 mile Sunday morning run, I rubbed the biggest, nastiest raw spot on the inside of my thigh that was actually oozing gunk! I know, that was probably more than you wanted to hear, but get over it. Anyway, I could barely walk with it like that, much less try to run. So, my Monday run was put off and my Wednesday run was terribly slow, short, and painful. I didn't get to run on Friday either because I didn't get off of work until late and my cousin graduated from H.S. that night. I did manage to get out on Saturday morning before kickboxing, but I was still nursing my leg and didn't go as far as I would have liked. However, I did get in my full 10 yesterday and about 6 this morning.

My fundraising is starting to take off. I have actually had people donate money! YEAH! Every little bit helps, but I still have a LONG way to go...any fundraising ideas would be greatly appreciated (besides the garage sale idea, Fitz).

Ty and Ry Update:
Ty - Ty will be graduating from 5th grade and moving into middle school on Wednesday. They toured her new school last week and she came home very nervous about next year. She said that the school was "confusing" and there were lots of "big scary 8th graders" that were as big as Daddy. Now that is scary!
Ry - Ry will be graduating from kindergarten tomorrow. It doesn't seem like he should be going on to first grade. He's still my baby...I know all you moms out there understand that.

My Honoree

"See, here's the thing..."
I put off my running today until later on tonight. I have found that the hotter it gets, the harder it is for me to run. It's only about 85 degrees right now (which isn't really that hot for us), but I have felt sick every afternoon while running. This doesn't happen on my morning runs - I am assuming because it's a lot cooler. I hate waiting to run - I would much rather get it done and over with. However, if I don't get sick due to the heat, it might be worth it. At least I'll be able to run in the mornings once we get out of school.

On the positive side, waiting to run has allowed me time to dig through my Team in Training packet that I received today in the mail. I got all of the pertinent information plus my honoree. Her name is Shelby and she is only 11 years old - Ty's age. She was diagnosed with Acute Lymphatic Leukemia when she was just four years old (not much younger than Ry). She went through three years of chemotherapy treatments. This included six months of hospital stays, as well as spinal taps and chemo every other month throughout the course of the treatment. The thing that really hits home for me is that Shelby reminds me so much of Ty. I received a photocopied picture of her on the back of a letter from her mom and she resembles Ty. In the picture, her hair is wet so I am assuming that she has just finished swimming - something Ty loves to do. She also has a dog that she "loves to pieces" just like Ty. I think that this is just one more way that God is telling me that this is definitely something that I need to do.

This also makes me more determined than ever to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I cannot imagine being in Shelby's mom's shoes, and would hope that there were others out there who were fighting to help my daughter. If you would like to join me in this fight to help children like Shelby, please make a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at http://www.active.com/donate/tntvirtual/msides. I know that Shelby and I would greatly appreciate it!

We Are The Champions

"See, here's the thing..."
I have no real news about my running this week. I do seem to be getting a little bit faster and my blisters are fianally healing up. Yeah! :-) However, I still have not raised any money towards the $4,000 that I need. :-(

Ty and Ry Update:
Ty: So, here's the real reason that I wanted to post tonight. Ty competed in the district 5th grade Battle of the Books competition tonight. Battle of the Books is a competition where teams compete in rounds against each other. Each team is given 10 questions per round. If a team misses a question, the other team can "steal" the question in order to earn more points. The team with the most points after all of the questions have been asked wins the round. Ty's team competed in three rounds against teams from each of the other elementary schools in our district. They WON!!!!! So, they are our district's 5th grade Battle of the Books champions! They won a really pretty blue fleece blanket that has Battle of the Books on it. They were all so excited!
Ry: Although Ry didn't compete in anything like Battle of the Books this week, I still want to brag on him. He was so well behaved tonight during the whole competition, especially with very little to keep him occupied. During the first round, he sat very quitely and listened. During round two, he playing games on my cell phone. Round three was held in the library so he sat at a table in the back and read books. He is certainly growing up to be such a good little boy.
I am so proud of both of my kids tonight! :-)

Scary Thought

"See, here's the thing..."
I think I am addicted to running! I couldn't run today because Ry was sick and Keith is out of town so I just got to do a DVD at the house. However, the whole time I felt really yucky because I actually WANTED to be running! I think I am losing it...

Ty and Ry Update:
Ty is going to Carlsbad Caverns on their field trip on Saturday. I'm a little nervous about letting her go that far without me but I guess she has to grow up sometime. I could go with her if I wanted to, but I think she would be way embarrassed if I did. She's growing up way too fast.
Ry's teacher came to see me yesterday morning. She said that he did a great job on TPRI and Dibels! This is such a relief! I knew he could do! However, this also means that I am going to owe him a bike soon!

Marti's Top Six Reasons for Running a Marathon

"See, here's the thing..."
While I was running yesterday, I had nothing better to do than think...go figure. It seems that if I do not think about other things (besides making it to the next tree, house, or telephone pole) than I don't make it very far at all. So, yesterday I was trying to come up with a way to word my donation in order to make it funny. I just happened to come up with my top six reasons for running a marathon. Here goes:
6.) I have learned the precise science of Ice, Heat, Ice, Heat.
5.) I have blisters the size of Texas on my foot. And, as Edie put it, those blisters have blisters the size of California growing inside of them.
4.) I have rubbed raw spots in places that should NEVER be rubbed raw!
3.) I have made a new friend - Skin Lube. If you do not know what this is, do not ask. It's a subject better left alone.
2.) I have actually muttered the words, " I only have to run five miles today!"
1.) This is my favorite reason of all...I can actually eat carbs! Pasta, and bread, and bagels...oh my!
The best part of all of this is that I still have almost 6 more months of this! YEAH! :-)