Ixtapa Report

I am sorry to report that there was no marathon involved in the making of this vacation. There was also no animal testing. We tested the beer and wine on humans. And neither of us had any tequila at all. Amazing.

Our travel day down was long. The flight time was about seven hours, but travel time was about 21 from the time we left the house until we checked in at the hotel. But it was fine. We had books and we just chilled in the San Francisco and Mexico City airports. We walked around and ate at both. But I must say by the time we ate dinner I was so exhausted I couldn't see straight and I only had two glasses of wine with my dinner. We chose our possibilities for the trip in San Francisco. We do this all the time, we think about how we want to experience our lives. I chose flow, fun and adventure. Steve chose connection and tranquility. This is exactly what we got.

Our room was fabulous. Here is the view from our balcony.

We immediatly suited up and went to walk on the beach. We walked by the massage tents. There were probably about eight tents set up. They all charged $20 for an hour massage. Monday, Wednesday and Friday were open on my calendar. My only complaint is they use mineral oil and by the time I walk back to the hotel I get a little burnt. But I learned from the last time we went to Ixtapa that I had to shower immediately. Sorry, I got a little distracted reminiscing. After our walk we changed clothes and went to look for a dinner spot. We found quite a few and everyone wanted our business. We chose but as I said earlier, we were so tired we had to go straight to bed. We were asleep by 7:30, it was great.

This is how most of our days went. Get up, go eat, walk on beach or at the market, have a beer and snack, go to the room to take our time getting ready and then go out to dinner. Steve ran Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings. This is the start of his first run from the 11th floor balcony. This is pretty blurry because I had to zoom in a long way. we got most of our shopping done and got signed up for a private tour of the country side on Tuesday. We saw crocodiles and bird, archeological artifacts, churches, markets, beaches, coconut candy and where they collect sea salt. Here are a bunch of pictures from the trip.


































Here is one last picture I promised Rick.

Sand to Snow

This is what we woke up to yesterday.







This was today.

This is life

We've been busy here, which is what life is all about. I have been working at the Y on changes we are making to the schedule. I also have been going to trainings. I will start training instructors in January. It looks like I will have one weekend most months that will be focused on training others. I like it.
Steve has been running events. He doesn't train a lot during the week, but gets in those long ones on the weekend. Tomorrow he is running Ghost with Robin and his friend Adam. Adam is a marathon virgin so it should be good.
Robin came home for Thanksgiving. It is great having him in the house. Everything gets busier. He is hopfully going to transfer from Western to UW for spring quarter. We are waiting to hear.
Family came over for Thanksgiving yesterday. It is so nice to have a house full of people. We had 11 at the table and four on the floor. Begging. We had Puck, Blossom, Safari, and Oliver hoping someone would drop something, anything. I'm sure none of them will start in the next few days. Puck and Blossom need to go on a little diet here pretty soon. My Mom and Dad came, my sister, her husband and two kids, and Sydnee brought Drew. It was great having him help prep for dinner. I had help from everyone it seemed and made the day go easy. After my sis left, Michelle and Wally came over for dessert. They brought Snickers salad. I know it sounds strange, but it was really good. I got the recipe.
Today my dear friend, Anne, is coming down. Anne, Mom and I are canning applesauce. It usually takes me forever to cut and core and cook the applesauce, but I think three sets of hands will make quick work of it. The time consuming part will be the canning. Six jars at 20 minutes. Did I mention we have about 80 pounds of apples. It's going to be great.
Mom and Dad will be taking the dogs home with them so Steve and I don't have to worry for the next two weeks and can enjoy ourselves. I am so thankful for them and their generous spirits.
I love my family bunches.

Massage Office Redo

Here are some pictures of my new sanctuary. Actually it is my massage office, but I love it. My mom came up for the weekend to help me with wallpapering brown paper bags on the wall and then a watered down latex paint wash. We shopped two of the days she was here, went to an art show and saw the musical South Pacific. We also went to church this morning. We were busy.

Baker Lake 50K, Robin’s First Ultra

Robin did great on his first 50K at Baker Lake. The Garmin had 31 and was short a mile or more all day to the course miles. SportTracks had the adjusted mileage at 33.5.

We did the early start at 7 AM and ran the first 20-21 miles with Michelle and Eric in 5:30 (15.46/mile), singing and hooting like Mad Monkeys. We got a lot of smiles and a few return hoots from the many runners passing back on forth. Michelle decided to take a short and well deserved break at the Aid Station and we were ready to move on. My kids amaze me, they run so well with very little training. He took the lead and ran steady and strong for the last 12.5 miles in 2:20, 11:18/mile.

The normal single out and back course was revised this year because of washed out bridges. Shawn (RD) and TC ran till 4AM to mark the trail section. Now that’s a dedicated RD and crew. Many thanks to Shawn, Tony, Arthur, Jon, Laura, and the other volunteers for their time and a great event.

The first 4 miles were uphill on gravel, then back down two on gravel to the main AS. Then began the two out and backs (14 miles and 10 miles) on beautiful single track trail along the lake. The trial along the lake was a mix of flat and rolling hill sections, mostly smooth with maybe a third narrow with roots and rocks.

James, Chris and the other elites were amazingly fast on the course. We got to see everyone multiple times in the three out and back sections. Michelle recovered well after her break and ran well for the last third. Robin and I hitched a ride back up the road and meet Michelle and Eric and ran in the last mile or so with them. Michelle and Eric finished in just over 9 hours, with Mad Monkey #2 carrying her across the finish line threshold for their anniversary.

We stayed a while to watch the last runners come in and chat with friends. Then, we changed into dry clothes, headed to Red Robin with Jane, and began the long drive home in the drizzle. Another wonderful weekend of running and friends.

Life is good. Hugs to you all and peace be with you.

What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas?

I just got home from Vegas. Did I mention that I took my 22 year old daughter, Sydnee with me. We had timeshare points that we would lose if we didn't use them, so off we went.

We stayed five nights. We were really busy. We went to see what tickets we could get for shows, then we went to New York New York to ride the roller coaster. Sydnee doesn't like roller coasters, but since I was funding this trip she went along. She didn't really like it. Later we went to Stomp Out Loud. It was fabulous. We both enjoyed the music made only with percussion, and the humor without words.




The next day we went to the Hoover Dam in the morning, took a Stripper 101 class in the afternoon and went to La Cage in the evening. The Hoover Dam was impressive.








The Stripper class was really fun. I was surprised that we were the only mother/daughter group there. And just so you know, I don't want a pole. I get too dizzy spinning around. Luckily we learned a few other things. ;) Both Sydnee and I were disappointed in La Cage. Some of the humor was a little mean spirited for my taste.









Friday we walked about a mile to and around the Mandalay Bay resort and casino, then took the bus to the Outlet Mall. We went shopping and found some good deals. After shopping we took the bus to Margaritaville.




It was good. Pomagranite margarita may be my new favorite. We walked back to the hotel to rest and get ready for the evening. We took a free tour from the hotel to the downtown district. The Fremont area was okay. The light show was neat, but the casinos were really smokey. I guess we are spoiled here with no smoking in public places.







Saturday we went to the Red Rock Canyon and the Spring Mountain Ranch. It is a beautiful place and if it hadn't been 100 degrees, it would have been good to hike. Sydnee spent some time by the pool before we went to see Ka, a Cirque du Soleil production. It had martial arts in it and an amazing stage. Hard to explain, but fun to watch.








Sunday we walked. We stopped at the Flamingo, Venetian, Palazzo, Mirage, and Cesear's Palace. We then walked down to the Monte Carlo and ate at the Diablo Cantina. It was a good thing we had coupons for free margaritas. They were kind of small and okay and cost $9 each. Sydnee spent more time by the pool before we went to the Excalibar to the Tournament of Kings and dinner. We then went back to the hotel and packed and went to bed early so we could get up at 4:30 am (otherwise known as O'dark thirty) to catch a shuttle at 5. We ended up getting on an earlier flight that got us home almost 4 hours ahead of schedule.

Now I need to unpack, do laundry, clean some of the house and tomorrow I will go get the dogs.

What Happened?

Okay, I haven't posted since Sydnee graduated and that has been two months. I'm not sure how that happened, but I do have a pretty good idea. Here is the deal.

The Saturday after graduation Steve ran the NB2V (North Bend to Vantage). I can't remember how far he ran, but Bob, Steve's dad, Sydnee and Michelle crewed and ran different parts of it. On Sunday, we went to see One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest at the Lakewood Playhouse. It was fabulous. We have had season tickets at this local theatre for a few years and it is so worth the money. We have seen some great productions.

The next weekend we helped move Sydnee from Tacoma to Puyallup. She now lives about five minutes away from us. We see a lot more of her and her room mate, Michon. It is really great. I am getting better at telling her I'm going to bed, lock the door on your way out. On Sunday, when we did the bulk of the moving, Sydnee and I went to a wedding shower for the first in my group of women that raised our kids together. Shocking that we have children old enough, I know.

The next weekend, Steve and Sydnee ran the Green River Marathon. Her second and she PR'd. I drove to Bellingham with Jenny to pick up some of Robin's things to move home. Well, we got almost everything in the Honda, which surprised me. On Sunday, I was honored to be able to observe egg retreaval for fertility treatment with some friends. I am a nurse and taught childbirth classes for seven years, so this was a very interesting thing for me to do.

The next weekend, Steve ran the Lake Youngs Ultra. Bob was here. We went to a graduation party for a good friend and then to an annual party to celebrate the Sound to Narrows run. Good times all around.




The next weekend Steve and I took advantage of some us time. We went to a campground near Monroe. We had a great time. We went to some wineries in Woodenville and bought some good stuff. It was nice to take the dogs and be by ourselves. It is so easy to forget to look into each others eyes and know why we are together. We came home Sunday in time to go to the Barnes for a barbeque to plan for the Rainier to Pacific relay. It is always fun to get with that bunch.

The next Saturday Steve golfed in a tournament put on by a Shawn Tovey's family. Steve and Shawn worked together for a lot of years and he had fun with a group that he hadn't golfed with for quite a while.

On Sunday Monica and Mike got married. We went to the wedding, it was lovely, and the reception. We had a good time with the running group, but we all decided it wasn't enough. So a bunch came to our house and we had margaritas and nibbles. It was great. I usually don't do spur of the moment things, but I stepped out of my box and nothing broke. It was all good.


Now came my birthday weekend. We met my parents, Bob, and Anne and Dave in Cresent Bar, Washington. It was hot, but great. We went to wineries and got more good stuff. We had good food, good wine and good company.














Now is the week that I started my new job at the YMCA. I am an Adult Fitness Coordinator. I work on newsletters, trainings and other things that I can so Lisha and Katie can do their jobs easier. I am working with a woman I just met, Doris, who has qualities that I don't, so it looks like we will work well together.


July 13th was my parents 50th wedding anniversary. They had a blessing of their vows at church Sunday morning and we had a cake and punch reception at coffee hour. Friends and Family were there to celebrate. It is very heartening to see a couple who still love and respect each other the way my parents do. I hope Steve and I can do so well.

Now the next weekend was the busiest so far. This was the weekend that Steve was running the Rainier to Pacific relay so he was gone from early Friday until Sunday afternoon. On Saturday Sydnee needed to go to a training for the Y so she could be certified to teach group exercise classes (Pilates). I went as a trainer candidate and taught three sections of the class. I passed as did Katie and Lisha, who I mentioned above. So now we can have more trainings at our Y in Puyallup and get more instructors certified. This was also the weekend of Jenna's wedding. It was so beautiful, she was so beautiful. This is how amazing my friends are. Anne catered the rehersal dinner for between 50 & 75 people and I heard it was fabulous. Her daughter Nicki is a baker and make the wedding cake which was beautiful and tasty. I can't wait to see the photos of this bash. On Sunday, Robin, Jenny, James and I went to the Tacoma Musical Theatre's production of Grease. We knew four people in the musical and they were all so good. Cody and Kirsten were Sonny and Rizzo and both were great. When I got home, Steve was cleaning My Yeti and now it is really clean and I appreciate his hard work.

We were supposed to go to Leavenworth with Rob and his wife, Jessica, but I got a call from my first best friend telling me her mother had passed away. I went to Kelso for the funeral and to support her. We got together with some other friends for dinner and had a really good time. Another friend wasn't able to join us due to an issue with her daughter. We went to visit her and tried to support her through some of this. It worked out best for us to leave them alone to do this tough transition in their way. My prayers are with Vicki and Carly.

That brings me up to date. This Friday, I go on vacation to Sun River, Oregon. Robin and his friend, Adam, will go with me. My parents, niece and her family, sister and her family will be there and Steve and Sydnee will come down on Wednesday. This was an annual tradition when the kids were growing up so it will be nice to get them down there again.