Good news! Yesterday, Emmerson finally arrived home from Cooks after her 3 week hospital stay. So glad you are back in Abilene and doing well, little one!

What am I doing up at this hour?! Well, today (yesterday?!) has been a flashback of the 'ole college days in the art lab, minus the whole art lab part. My dear friend Tim graciously loaned me his laptop, and I dedicated the day to updating my portfolio. Quite the undertaking to attempt to compile 1.5 years of work into organization and small file space. But, 14 hours later (including a break for a quick bike ride, supper, and packing camping gear), it's finished. I think.

Anyway, that's not very exciting. So on to the more important matters... I have pictures of Emme Kate! Finally, I know. And though there are only a few, it's not difficult to see how cute she is. Things are going well for the little one. Possible release date is Monday/Tuesday-ish, so that's good news for all involved. Thanks for all the prayers sent up for Emmerson and her family.




There's been a lot going on, even though I haven't felt the need to detail it all out in writing. Job searching, errand running, insurance figuring-out, driving, meal cooking, new churching, nephew playing time, more driving, shower planning, biking. Just a lot. Planning hours at a time instead of days. But a good transition time nonetheless.

Off to FW for the day tomorrow, then up to Ray Roberts State Park to set up camp for the night. Then 6:30 AM on Saturday, the Green Banditos take on the 3P Challenge! Weather forecast? Wind. Rain. 37º. Good stories to follow...

Dori is quite the philosophic fish, huh? Good advice. And so we keep swimming...

Emme Kate is doing well but will remain at Cooks for another week or so. Big brother Wyatt has officially arrived on the scene to oversee his sister's care and teach her all she needs to know about life. Pretty soon, she'll be running around in her little pink Polo dress. Had to include this pic. So cute. I'll try to get some more up soon.

Craziest siteing of the day: A father running with a double jogging stroller with his two children inside. He stopped to pull over to the side of the road to change out the movie they were watching on a portable DVD player. So great.

Thoughtful moment of the race: We ran down the Trinity River Trail for part of the course and passed several homeless people sleeping on benches and pushing their shopping carts around. And I couldn't help but think, wow, how blessed are we, we who have strong healthy bodies to run, food to give us the energy we need to endeavor such a challenge, and a place to go afterwards to clean up and get warm. How very blessed.

Funny story of the race: The second half of the course was desolate to say the least. No more spectators, no policemen blocking traffic, uphill and right into that 20-30 mph wind from the north. It was... fun. So I'm trudging up this hill in a residential area in one of those 'what was I thinking' moments and this car stops at an intersection to let me pass. An old lady leans out the window and yells at me, "What are you running for?" Had I any energy to answer her, I would've responded, "I don't know!" Like I was gonna stop and chat...

Best cheering squad of the day: That's our family! Dad represented and showed up in at least 5-6 different spots throughout the race to keep us stocked up on gummy bears and water, along with passing on encouragement from Abilene, where Mom, Emily and Wyatt called in to check on us. That's just awesome.

Best moment of the day: Rounding the last block to finally see the finish line and seeing DonMark on the side yelling for me with his medal around his neck. One of the coolest things ever. He ran such an awesome race, first time out of the blocks. And I'm sure he wasn't thinking happy thoughts about his sister who 'got him into this' the entire way, but I know I was so proud to have him running with me on Saturday. I didn't get to cheer him across the finish, but if I had, I would've yelled something like, "Woo-hoo! Thats my brother!"

How quickly 4 months of work drains into a mere 4 hours. Well, 4+ hours to be honest. Still. It's a weird feeling and some very surreal moments certainly follow. One thing about it, I can never claim to not be a gambler. That's all marathoning is, at least for us novices. (I suppose the elites race often enough to get their alignment down to a fine art.) Gambling on one morning's weather forecast, gambling on being sick-free and injury-free on one specific day, gambling on all your bodily functions agreeing with you, gambling on whether you wake up and have an 'on' day... and paying money to do it! But I still profess that there's that excitement at the starting line that pays it all off, rewarding race or not.

So the goal was to get back in the game this year. After last year's crash and burn, I wanted some redemption. While that came in a time 10 minutes slower than I had hoped for, I'm trying to be good with that. Could I have pushed harder in those last few miles? Yup. Would I like to rerun those last few miles differently? Sure would. I keep replaying it in my head. Satisfied? No. But disappointed? Can't be. (See thoughtful moment of the day in part 2.) I'll take it and look ahead.

So yes, I am planning on round 4 already. Addictions are hard to break, and I figure there are worse addictions to have, although my friends and family may disagree! But here's the thing: I was thinking last night about some 'what ifs' on several accounts, and here's why I'm ready to find the next race. I can do better. I have more in me. And maybe it is a gamble, but what if I actually ran on a flat course? What if I put in just a little more effort in training? What if the weather didn't include gale forces or icy roads like in Austin? What if I had an 'on' day and hit the wall late in the race or not at all? What if those things happened to align...?

It’s so worth finding out!