Not for the faint at heart

Luke's long awaited hip replacement surgery was Thursday, April 19. Dr. Tait's most important comment when finished was that everything went "miraculously perfect."

Luke came home from the hospital a day early just as he determined he would. He used his walker for one day, two crutches the next, and 4 days after the surgery, one crutch.
While eating lunch, Luke gasped, "I'm sitting up straight."

That may seem like an ordinary event for you, but the last time Luke was able to sit up straight was when he was 10 right before his hip socket gave out as a result of JRA.
I am so pleased with this darling boy. He is tougher than most people I know. Despite bouts of "feeling sorry for myselfness," he has dealt with a lifetime of pain and surgeries without much complaint.
Oh, as a side note, while recuperating in the hospital, Greg and him found a Lexus and Luke came home to his first car.

Everyone Once In Awhile

I feel entitled to rant...I really get irritated by

1. Dogs who bark in the night. Someone shoot them with a BB gun. Oh wait, Greg does that for me.

2. Bullies. End of story.

3. Bad tippers. If you can't afford a decent tip, go eat at McDonalds.

4. People who don't pay their baby sitters a fair wage. If the teenager played with and kept your little ones safe all day long, PAY them what they deserve. $20 should be the tip. Again, if you can't afford to do that, STAY HOME.

5. People who take babies to the movies. Refer to last sentence in #4.

6. Buffets. I call them Buf-fats. Perhaps I am really just irritated at how I have no self control when we go eat at the buffats.

7. Skinny weak girls. Put a little muscle on it, honey. Being skinny is useless if you can't run a mile or lift a bag sugar. A real woman has curves and muscle mass.

8. People who grow old but don't grow up. I work with a few. You irritate me. Of course this is coming from someone who wears Hollister. Darn it, I irritate me.

9. Adults who are mean to kids. I teach kindergarten twice a week. They are noisy and needy. I totally understand how annoying they can be. However, I love that about them. I laugh at how they can get under my skin one minute and fill my heart with love the next. If you are just simply annoyed then don't be around them. They won't miss you. They know you don't like them. They have great intuition.

10. People who don't have the courtesy to reply when I send them a text message or email. You are just rude and you irritate me.

I feel much better now.

Six Tunnels Half Marathon - Boulder City, Nevada

This was our first half marathon together. Usually, we do 5k and 10k. I've done about 20 halfs and this was Greg's first. We went with our friends Nancy and Ingrid Gubler. I really enjoyed this run because it was mainly on trail; dirt and sand. I know that sounds harder which it is. Additionally, there are tons of hills so you have long stretches of uphill and downhill...so my hips are sore, which they usually are not. Greg prefers to run pavement so this is not going to be among his list of favorites. There was also wind gust throughout the whole run which blew sand in my mouth, eyes, ears, and nose. Nevertheless, I love that I did it. While running the last exhausting mile I kept telling myself, "You can do hard things, you can do hard things, you can do hard things."

For Me

I went to a funeral yesterday to say goodbye to a beautiful lady in my ward. In a talk, one of her daughters commented that she loved shoes. Greg leaned over whispered that he knew I did too.

However, I love running shoes. I like to go to the athletic shoe store to look at them, try them on, and run around the store to try them out. I almost got caught up in the barefoot running shoe craze but opted out because my orthopedic inserts didn't work with them. If you want information on running shoes, talk to me. I read about them in my spare time.

My latest shoe is this.


I like this shoe because it is light and my feet aren't so tired at the end of long runs. I doesn't offer as much cushioning like my Asics, but the trade off between a heavy shoe for a light shoe is ok with me. I keep my Asics around though for those quick 5k and for trail running.

I like other shoes too. I just wish I could pull off the running shoes in a dress look on Sundays. Until then, I'll just like my other shoes when I have to.

Jammin Minute Debut

My school, Northwest CTA High, has joined the Alliance for Healthier Generation. We have made changes such as removing all junk food from vending machines, not allowing fundraiser with unhealthy foods, and a myriad of other things. These changes have one goal in common - help kids get moving and realize how important physical activity is. We have started a "Jammin Minute" where once per class period, students get up and perform one minute of exercise. The video is our very first, ready to debut on Tuesday, January 24, 2012.

2011 Pictures

Thank goodness that our good friend Brandi Thomas didn't hate us from last year and agreed to take our family pictures again. This time, we met her at Centennial Hills Park down the street. I told the kids to wear their favorite college shirt. Since Greg and I graduated from UNLV, we wore Rebel Red! We had much more fun this time. I love doing casual pictures and wish Greg wouldn't insist on "dress up" pictures that we have to do every other year. Here they are, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Running, running, running

I run. I have been running regularly since Kel was born. My first run was with Joi Warburton who was my Visiting Teacher in the 23rd ward. (She was also the person who introduced me to aerobics classes and workouts at the gym.) I have ran a million 5k and 10k races, and yearly do at least 2 half marathons. Once a friend of Greg asked with sarcasm if with all this running I do, would I ever get to where I was going. I thought then and still do now that he should stop wondering about why I run and focus more on why he didn't run.