My Longest Run Ever

So here I am dripping after my longest run ever. 17.2 miles.


I got up at 5 am with these intentions in mind:
Case normally sleeps until 8 am, sometimes later, so I should be back by then. I will have imposed on no one. Not my husband, who could sleep in. Not the other kids, who could also sleep in and not be required to "babysit." I would be back in time to help start everyone's day, help get paint...possibly even defy my fear of high heights and help paint.

Intentions. What's that saying about the best intentions....?

Well, I made it back in 2:57.20. That includes a 3 minute potty break at the Ymca.

Just as I'm arriving, I see Dan pulling out. I'm thinking, "Menards." So I call. His painting has to be put on hold for now, for the helpful and wonderful man he is, he is giving his Saturday to his parents, helping prepare for a family reunion to be held there tomorrow.

Here's where those well-laid plans don't go the way you think they should...he told me Case woke up on and off from 5:45 am on. So much for my dh getting a restful night of sleep.

Before I left, I said a prayer. I don't usually do that, but I'm so glad I did. It helped clear my mind and keep me focused. I also am grateful that it was answered. However, now I see I should have prayed for others, not me.

Cookie Monster!

Aunt Diane will appreciate this post the most today. We made her famous chocolate chip recipe for our small group tonight. Of course, we needed to sample them before we take them to share!

Hmm, wonder if Case will like them? Check out the pictures below and you tell me if he likes them or not!

He needed something to wash all that down, so I tried filling a sippy cup with water and seeing if he would know what to do. Like all new toys, he had to experiment with it.

By the way, he is now 8 months old and a few days.

Time Flies When

It's amazing how two days can just go by in an instant.

I would describe yesterday as "tired." I think a day in the sun (Sunday's air show) zapped much of my energy.

Of course, it could also be a little poop machine that resides across the hall has something to do with it, too. Just when I think he's mastered the art of sleeping through the night, he proves me wrong with a girly scream.

This happened at least twice last night, too. I lost count actually. It might have been four times, but I know I only fed him twice. He acted as though he was starving....Growth spurt, anyone?

So. Today. I'm trying to get a few essentials done. Feed kids. Do laundry. Run an easy 10K.

But I also managed to read 10 more pages in Atlas Shrugged. I will give you a book report at some point, but it'll probably be months from now. It's over 1000 pages thick, and has writing that is around size 8 font. You can do a google search and find out more about it, but for now, I'll let you know that it's a great philosophical, fictional book about capitalism and the Movers & Shakers who make the economic world keep turning.

Here's hoping you have a restful night.

Actually, I'm hoping I have a restful night, too.

Air Show on Sunday - A Day of Fun!

Quad City Air Show, June 22nd. It was fun!

These guys are amazing. The jets are amazing. Who would want to mess with America's military? That's what I'd like to know!

A Few of the Things We've Been Up To

The girls have had Chemistry Camp all week this week in the mornings in the Quad Cities. They've been going to college! It has been held at St. Ambrose University (www.sau.edu) and they've learned all sorts of new things, from chromotography to chemical reactions.

I didn't plan it this way, but it just happened that there was an Art Camp offered at the Art Center this same week in the afternoons. The theme was Project Insect, since there's been a huge exhibit here for the past few months with that theme, including a resident artist. Below are some pictures of the girls with a couple of their works.


Haley with her dragonfly and ladybug painting.

Moriah with her butterfly and butterfly painting.

Brooke with her butterfly and butterfly painting. (I thought it was a lunar moth, but she corrected me. It's some kind of butterfly.)

Case has been learning how to be flexible. He's spent a lot of time in his car seat this week.

I've been listening to talk radio. Thought provoking stuff out there.

The FLOOD of '08

This is the Riverfront Park, where we often come to play.

This is a sculpture that was erected about a year ago.

This is the former Hotel, which has since been turned into upscale condos with an awesome Thai restaurant on the ground floor. Hope those sandbags help!

I feel bad for the guy building that house!

This is a railroad bridge down by Columbus Junction. There are railcars filled with gravel to help steady the bridge and prevent its demise.

Junction again.


This is the bridge near Conesville. The old bridge is the one we're looking at.

A shed under water.

Notice the bridge piers out there?

A famous line from the movie Twister: "Debris! We have debris!"

Pictures from Marathon to Marathon

This is the night before, at the hotel in Storm Lake. Of course, we all forgot our swimsuits! It was nice to soak my legs, though. I think it helped!

This is the morning of. Notice the clock. It says 5:35am. The marathon starts at 6:00 am. We were supposed to meet in the lobby at 5:15 am, but Nancy and my alarms (plural) didn't go off. We actually woke up at 5:15 am! It was a Seinfeld!

This is me after I showered and got cleaned up. They announced the winners in each age category, and I about fell over when they said, "And in 3rd place, women 30-39, for the half marathon, from Muscatine, Iowa, Linda Steele!"

This is the group of Muscatine Running Friends that made the migration to Storm Lake. Getting there was interesting...it took more than an hour to get across the I-380 bridge in Cedar Rapids because of the flooding. Our detour on the way home way US20 to Dubuque, then US61 to Muscatine! Uggh! 6 1/2 hours.

Update on the Marathon to Marathon

As you may have heard, I went with a group of Running Friends from Muscatine to Storm Lake, Iowa yesterday and just returned not too long ago. It was a 6 1/2 hour drive back - me driving like I wanted to race: FAST. We were detoured and had to drive US20 to Dubuque and then down US61 to Muscatine. The water was everywhere! And we encountered a nasty storm on the way back, too, near Eldridge, IA.

Well, this will be brief, because I am kind of tired after a long day. I will post pictures tomorrow, hopefully.

The half was awesome! I think I'm a half-er. I watched lots of marathoners hobbling across the finish line, and I don't know that I want to put my body through that...yet. Still thinking about it.

I ran sub-9 minute miles until mile 7, when my left knee really gave me problems. I walked for about a minute, and decided to slow down a bit. I kept right around 10 minute miles at that point. I finished with a 2:05.20-ish. Also, I got 3rd place in my age (30-39) group! That was exciting and totally unexpected!

It was a perfect day to run - started off in the low 60's and ended in the mid-70's. Sunny and breezy. I borrowed Brooke's mp3 player and listened to Hannah Montana, Chris Daughtry, Faith Hill, Little Big Town, and more, but those were the ones that really kept me going. Thank you, Brooke!

For more info on this race, check out www.marathon2marathon.com

I'll talk more later...

June Flooding

Wednesday we drove out of town and saw the flooding along the Cedar and Iowa Rivers.

Oscar & Wynne's

Here are some recent pics (taken Wednesday evening) of Oscar and Wynne's newest home improvement project. Notice the pretty fountain!

The Energizer Bunny

I'm trying to analyze what I did differently today than I've done in days past, because for some odd reason I had an endless supply of energy today! I got up early, got my run in, did my normal morning ritual - 3 cups coffee, etc... And managed to go to Menard's - twice. And even the dreaded Walmart. I redecorated eight windows, which included the use of power tools. I took out lots of trash. And many more things. I feel pretty good about what I got accompished today.

So why can't I have this much energy every day?

Saturday Musings

Above: He can't stand long, but he sure enjoyed posing for this picture...until he fell and bumped his head on the bottom of the swing in the background. I don't think he has much interest in learning to crawl. "Just let me walk!"

Below: Dan has made more progress. The only credit I can give myself is the little amount of help I gave in setting up the scaffolding. He's moving right along on the last section of our house, scraping to the wood, sanding, and fixing spots. Of course, it was HOT today!

All of this happened after the HNI Run on the waterfront this morning. I ran the 5K in 25:09. I'm slowly getting my speed back, but wondering if I'll ever break 24:00 again....hmmm.

Random Thoughts

Yesterday, I accompanied 32 other people to Adventureland, an amusement park near Des Moines, and had a great time! The reason for the trip? Haley and Moriah earned the trip for memorizing a certain amount of Bible verses throughout the school year at our church's KidZone. There were 24 students who earned the incentive, and 9 adults. I was fortunate enough to be one of the adults!

Dan was able to take the day off from work, buy some air conditioners, install them, take care of Brooke and Case, and unload some concrete at his parents - all in the same day. I'm thankful he gave me the chance to get out, as I really had a great time. I even had moments to ponder...

So, while I was staring death in the eye during a trip on the Tornado, I did manage to have some more random, inspiring thoughts.

First, next year I'll be back with another child, who will hopefully rise to the occasion and memorize Scripture with a passion. And then the next year, too, as these are 4th and 5th graders that get to go on this trip. How encouraging it is for them to hide words that will last for all time in their hearts. Words that will hopefully keep them from comitting sins and words that will encourage them to do the right thing. Words that help them see others first and set aside themselves for later.

And then I thought forward eight or nine years, when two of my children (possibly three) are high school graduates, and I'll be back again at this theme park with my fourth. How will he be? Or yet, how many rides will I actually attempt then? I certainly didn't see many people over 45 riding rides!

I thought of how time slips away, and before you know it, life is gone. Fleeing. And what is eternity like? Does it exist? Is everything I know and hold to be true, because I've read a great portion of the Bible, have studied it in fact,..., is that to be? And even if I doubt or if I go on and disregard it all, and it does actually exist, then my doubts and fears are useless.

So, again, picture me screaming my head off, wondering if they've done the inspections, hoping my name doesn't end up in some newspaper article on page 33 of the New York Times reporting the collapse of a rollercoaster in Iowa that killed all aboard, picture me thinking of these things because I'm certain I'm about to die. Now picture me at the end of the ride, thanking God I'm still alive, that the ride is safe (for this time - it might not be next time I ride), and pondering about life & death, about the fleeing of time, about children - the paths they are heading down, the curves I feel I need to steer them around, and finally me letting it all out of my hands into One's whose hands can handle it all.

It was peaceful...like the moment at the top of the rollercoaster, when the clanking is done, no one is screaming yet, it's silent, just a gentle breeze whistles, and...

My Faithful Readers

...Have been wondering where I've been, why I haven't posted...

Well, it's been a busy couple of days. And although I haven't been inspired to sit and write, I did manage to get in a 11.1 mile run on Saturday !!! With the help of Running Friends (http://runningfriends.blogspot.com/), I managed to run the farthest I've ever run in my life. Two weeks from now, I'm going to attempt a 1/2 marathon! 13.1 miles. So that's my great accomplishment this weekend.

Today, Dan helped the girls set up the pool we bought 7 years ago and haven't used in 4 years. They had a blast playing in the freezing cold water. I'll try to snap some pics and post them soon.

As far as anything inspirational for this post, I'm still working on reading "Economics in One Lesson." It's very good! I wish it had been a required read in Econ 101. All I remember from that class is that my prof was big into government subsidies and owning farm ground - he demonstrated how he could generate $200K a year from owning a certain amount of acres, not farming it, and collecting big bucks from Uncle Sam. Even then, before I discovered my Republican roots, I thought that sounded fishy.

So, until another inspirational moment comes, here's hoping you have a great week! And come on back now, you hear?