Tonight's Run

Tonight I went for a trail run with my iPod. And no people -- very, very weird for me!

Bobby had a headache, so he bailed on me; jPod had a choir concert in which he had a solo, so he bailed. And of course Guy had to go with jPod because he's his DAD. But I actually enjoyed the solitude for a change. I'd loaded up a bunch of new songs and the time just flew by.

Much as I love marathoning, the rest of my run training will likely be on trails for the rest of the season because I am doing my first ultras this year - a 50K in July and a 50 miler in September... both on mountains, and both on trails. Anyway, trail running is NOTHING like road running. It's so much harder and so much slower! And any conditioning I thought I had on the roads does not translate to the trails. I went just over 8 miles and it took me about 1:22, for an average speed of 10:58.... and I though I was working hard!

But it is also prettier:

... and it smells nicer...

... and the creeks have little animals running around near them...

But it's just so technically foreign. Here are a few things I learned so far:

1). All your energy dissipates into the dirt or wood chips or grass, so you have to work harder for a push-off every step.

2). Going downhill is an exercise in lowering your center of gravity and using your big quad muscles to support you. If you allow your feet to take the impact... well, lets just say I didn't have to do that more than once or twice. (youch!!) You also have to LIFT your knees a little even though you are stepping LOWER. Hard to explain, but it softens your landing.

3). You trail shoes can't fit like your road shoes. All that roomy comfort I enjoy in my road shoes will leave me with blistery feet, I can tell that already.

4). Roomy shoes also means that you will actually step right out of your shoes on the uphills.

5). You can't take your eyes off the ground unless you're not afraid of tripping or jamming your toes ..... because you really don't know what's underneath all those leaves.

6). It's really pretty out there.

That's what I know so far. If I think of any other gems of trail running tips, I will pass them along!

Goodnight everybody. xoxoxo

Fargo Marathon and Mother's Day

Friday

... was a busy day at work and I was feeling nervous ALL day. Like if-I-held-out-my-hand-it-was-shaking, kind of nervous. I'm not sure why: maybe because I had only slept about 3.5 hours that night because Bobby had a school project that he'd neglected until Thursday night and needed my help for, so I was helping him while actually trying to concentrate on what I needed to pack for Fargo, I had a bunch of reports to collect data for and submit before leaving work on Friday, and I had wanted to duck out early as possible so I wouldn't get caught in a bunch of Fishing Opener traffic, and I needed to meet IronGreg on the highway somewhere on the way out of town because IronLaura had forgotten her running shoes and we had races on Saturday, and my "tire air pressure" light was on in my Tahoe. Arghhh! So many balls in the air! But I did manage somehow to get it all finished and was on the road at 2:35 p.m.

Laura and I stayed at her mom Betty's house. As soon as I got there we went to the grocery and liquor stores and then just hung out at the house. 

Exhale. 

Ahhhh - the medicinal benefits of Summit Pale Ale, talking and chilling out. 

And laughing. I don't know why, but we can laugh about everything,  including (ok maybe especially) ourselves. We were falling off the chairs at one point. Ask Laura to tell you about the neighbor's dog; and the story about Greg at the IHOP. OMIGOSH - especially the IHOP story. ("[ringing cell phone] Can you please bring me some paper towels?") I can hardly type this I'm still laughing so hard. It is the best story. And "Brian's shoes". Sigh. Laughter is good. Especially in light of all else that's been going on in the past few months. I love you so much, Laura!

Saturday

Fargo Marathon

So we got to the FargoDome about 30 minutes before the start. IronKaren (and baby Violet on board!!) and Betty sherpa'd all our gear and cheered us on. 

Lots of Laura's friends from Fargo also ran the half marathon. Here is Krysta - you may remember her from the wedding pictures. She was a bridesmaid back in November at Laura and Greg's wedding.

It was a great day for a run. 40 degrees and cloudy, breezy, but not gusty. The course was two loops and fast. All my friends had bailed on the full marathon due to injury, pregnancy, new job etc., so I was running alone. This was my 30th marathon and I can't remember EVER running by myself! But a flurry of txt messages from my cool, collected, always-says-just-the-right-thing running partner at home, Guy, as well as a bunch of others calmed me down and I put my game face on. It looked like a great day to go for a Boston Qualifier. I prayed at the start, the gun went off and so did I. 

I felt great from the first mile. At about the 4th I started running with a soldier carrying a flag. We got to talking and I told him about Robert, one of our tight circle of friends whom I ran Fargo with last year, but who is in Basra right now. I was going to ask if I could carry the flag for a bit in his honor, but then he told me that his friend was just killed in Iraq and he was carrying the flag for HIM. So I just started crying and I think he felt bad and then he promised that MY soldier would come home but I just said I was really sorry and then backed off and let him run ahead instead. I can't cry and run. And Robert IS coming home. He just is. I can't even go there.

One of my account managers, Dustin, was there and cheered for me a couple of times, and I saw Karen and Betty a couple times. But otherwise, it was quiet. Here are my splits. They look pretty consistent, eh???:

1). 9:14

2). 9:15

3). 9:18

4). 9:02

5). 8:56

6). 8:50

7). 8:58

8). 8:56

9). 9:07

10). 9:07

11). 9:00

12). 8:59

13). 8:57

14). 8:54

15). 9:38 (lightening fast potty stop)

16). 9:00

17). 9:02

18). 8:52

19). 8:48

20). 9:03

21). 9:00

22). 9:12

23). 9:07

24). 8:57

25). 8:49

26.2). 10:38

Total 3:56:54

So that's a BQ, and my personal best ever for this distance. I felt great all the way to the finish. 

Here are a couple of friends I ran into on the course: Jonny Jensen (in green), is the the trainer who hosts the inSANE spin classes I've posted about. 

After the race we took showers and then headed out to a barbecue at Krysta's house with a bunch of other friends who raced the half or full.

... and I had my first Wonder Woman shots. I need to get the recipe because they are great! It's "X-rated" (whatever that is) and some kind of blue energy drink, so it's purple, but so dang TASTY. I think I sipped at three of them.... between rum-and-Cokes, Jason's homemade beer, and a Mike's Hard Lemonade that we toasted Robert with (that's his beverage of choice). We went to a concert at the FargoDome to listen to a cover band - they were good, but I don't remember their name. It was getting to be a long day, so we went home and straight to bed.

Sunday

Then I drove home this morning a little hungover. But what a great race! It couldn't have gone any better for me. I received lots of Mother's Day txts and calls, and when I got home I was so happy to see my kids!!! They were sleeping out in the tent in the back yard, but they were thrilled I was home. They and Bob gave me a new blender, a couple of plants, and Bobby had written me a prayer. I also got flowers, candy and a card from Robert in Iraq. Debbie Clift and I are like his two moms - always looking after him, trying to set him up, sending him cookies and videos, etc. That was so sweet of him to remember us! I hope you are all writing him. His address is on his facebook page.

Anyway, Ally ended up at a friend's house and Bobby and I laid out in the tent for about an hour just snuggling and talking. The cool breeze was blowing through the screens and we just talked. I can't believe I have an eleven year old son. I love him so much and feel so blessed by so many wonderful people and so "much" in my life. Sometimes it's easy to get frustrated and disappointed with the usual stuff I struggle with, but all I really need to do is look in my kid's eyes from time to time and the whole world makes sense again.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms. And thank you so much to all of you who thought of me today.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxxo

May 2, 2009

WORK

Well, the one thing I have to say about going back to work is that the weeks just FLY by. I can't believe I've been with Coca Cola for 6 weeks already. 

It's a blast. 

The people are top drawer - every one of them from the VP to the managers to the drivers to the merchandisers -- everyone who touches our product in whatever role, does so because they WANT to. The culture is that of a team and everybody wants to win. And they also want each other to win. Seriously, I keep thinking something must be up because there is no way any corporation could have assembled such a fun, competitively friendly group of winners all under one roof. People are working; I'm not saying it's all playtime, but all day you hear people laughing and having fun while they are aggressively pursuing the competition and opening new accounts. I could not love a job more than the one I have.

Below is my boss on the left, and his (our) boss on the far right. In the bike clothes is Chuck, the owner of one of our best convenience retail accounts, NewMart/ Marathon Gas in Eagan. He is a big shot mountain biker and was out on a training ride and stopped by. See? Everyone's always having fun at Coke! How many of your clients choose "your office" as their destination on a training ride???!!!

I rode with Chuck and his family and friends in the MN Ironman Bike Ride last weekend. Below is a pic of me on Chuck's brother's bike -- he actually rode this baby in the race.... eliciting laughs and smiles from everyone who passed us. It was about 40 degrees and pouring rain, but it was still fun. Sort of like being on the Survivor show. I mean, there were buckets of near freezing water pouring on our heads for 3 hours. But I'm still glad I did it!

TRAIL RUNNING

I will be doing my first Ultra trail runs this year (31 mile and 50 mile), so I'm working on getting a lot of training on that terrain. Road running totally doesn't translate! Becca, Maggie, Guy and I did the 25K Trail Mix a couple weeks ago and it was so hard! It's really hilly, and the spring from your steps dissipates into the grass or dirt, so I find it very difficult. Not that Guy wanted to intimidate me, but he did tell me that the terrain for our upcoming trail races is way WAY more technical than Trail Mix. So I am doing more trails to prepare.

Below are Bobby and jPod, who joined me on a one hour run last week. Guy had just returned from his Ultra Marathon in Chippewa and was recovering, so he just walked the trails with his camera, but the boys and I ran. We have a really beautiful park system here in Minnesota. This is at Wolsfeld Woods in Orono.

Speaking of jPod, he's a hockey goalie (that season is just wrapping up now) and he had a great game last night.... at least 45 saves! Way to go jPod!!! Here he is enjoying a very wise selection for his recovery drink. It's what all the best athletes drink and of course it's made and owned by Coca Cola. ;-) Thanks, Jeremy. You can have your dollar now.

BIKING

Friday night I rode with Cathy and the crew from the Lifetime Bike Club. This is me with Normal Eric. (We already have a Crazy Eric in our club, so when this Eric joined we had to name him Normal Eric. I think he's OK with it). Anyway, he and Guy ran the Chippewa Ultra last weekend together. He's also a great biker and I'm riding with him tomorrow (Sunday for 3 hours). 

Today (Saturday) I rode with 5 girlfriends for 53 miles. It took us 3:03 of ride time, but almost 4 hours total because we stopped at gas stations to refuel, and Laura had to fix a flat. Was a beautiful day!! I was pretty beat because I did a one hour kettleball class beforehand (it's way too hard for me!!) Anyway, our ride was great - our fastest 5-mile split was 21.8 mph!

Now I am heading to a trunk show for some much needed shopping, then off to IronTim and IronKaren's house for a barbecue. Feels like it's summer already.

Have a great day everybody.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Good job, Bobby!!

OK, I just can't believe how fast Bobby is getting. Here are his splits from his 10K training run tonight:

1- 10:12

2 - 10:01

3 - 10:18

4 - 9:51

5 - 9:17

6 - 9:10

.2 - 1:32

TOTAL: 1:00:24

... and he's only 10 years old. Nice negative split, son!

Surprise visit from Robert!!

Robert came home for a couple of days!

He's been in Washington state for two months, training and otherwise preparing to re-deploy back to Iraq for his second tour of duty. We've really missed him, so it was awesome to have him here, even if only for a couple days. 

Here he is flanked by his two Minnesota "moms"... Debbie Clift and me. 

... here he is with one of his training partners, Anthony. He's from Kenya and he is way too fast for me to train with, but he is the coolest guy ever and one day we are going to climb Kilimanjaro together. He and Robert are good friends.

... Me with one of the best friends I have ever ever ever had, Holland. She and I are both training for the 50 mile trail ultra with Guy.

... Guy, me and Andrew, Holly's hubba.

... and Jennifer, Robert, Debbie, and my hubba, Bob.

I love this picture... me and Robert with Terri and Erin. Erin just went back to work this week, so now Terri has no one to train with. We'll see how she handles being alone because the three of us have spent and insane amount of time together!!! I still love you, Terri!

Then on Saturday, Guy, Becca, Maggie and I ran the 25K Trail Mix race in Bloomington. It was great practice for Moose Mountain because it was really hilly and had a little single track on the course. Guy kept reminding me that although it was better than doing just another pavement or road run, that the ultra will be "much, much more technical." Which was disappointing because I thought the Trail Mix was WAY hard and now I am feeling much less confident about the Moose Mountain ultra!

...here we are at the start, with our friend Dave Smith:

... and on top of the ski jump hill...

We finished in 2:40:00 - which is by no means speedy, but like I said, it was really hard!

Then Guy and I headed over to coffee with the rest of the running club to say our last goodbyes to Robert before he got taken to the airport to head back to the base. 

... and that's when it just hit me (again) like a slug to the stomach and I just got so sad. I know he's brave and incredibly smart and very well trained and all that. But I just don't like where he's going.  Some of the meanest people in the history of the world live there and they don't just "not like him", but they want to kill him. And all he (and his fellow soldiers) wants to do over there is hand the good Iraqi guys back their country. But all it takes is one sniper with nothing to lose -- and there are thousands of them with nothing to lose -- and without giving Robert even a second thought they could just take him away from me. He's like a brother to me and the "fun" uncle to my kids and we love him so much. 

Then as I was driving Guy home, Robert was at my house gathering up his gear and saying bye to Ally and Bobby and they called just crying so hard... like they were in a panic... and there of course is nothing I can do... I can't make him stay, and I can't make them not be afraid. He's got a job to do and it just is what it is. But I think when they see him in his uniform the danger just seems so much more imminent. 

Robert texted last night to say he arrived safely. I had to tell him that Ally had gone into his room an hour earlier and had taken the civilian shirt he had been wearing while he was here, and that she was sleeping with it. He said she was really upset when he left, and that she could have his shirt. 

Tuesday he turns off his phone.

Wednesday he flies to Kuwait.

Two hundred ninety six days to go.

Omigosh that was GREAT.

It's been a long time.

A really long time.

Too long.

Months, I am sure.

Which is kind of sad, but around here it just is what it is.

But I'm back... WE are back!

Tonight it was so powerful and thrilling that I was absolutely spent. 

The kind of spent where you just collapse, panting, flushed. Thighs quivering. Definitely glowing. And you just can't get that grin off your face, no matter how hard you try!

Kevin, Terri and me. 

Working it in such perfect rhythm that we didn't even have to talk to each other; we just knew when to speed up and slow down; when to lead and when to follow. 

After an hour and a half we were ecstatic to finish up. 

Together.

Because everybody knows it's more fun when you finish at the same time.

.

.

.

.

.

.

OK, you can get your heads out of the gutter, you perverts. ;-)

It was our first hard outdoor bike ride! I missed you guys and it's so great to be "back in the saddle" with you again. We averaged 20 mph on the rolling hills, and it's only our first real day out that wasn't just a leisure ride.  

It was aMAzing

Monday night run

OK so you know the boys (Bobby and jPod) are tallying their miles in advance of the Deadwood South Dakota Kids' Marathon... So tonight we logged 6 miles of trail running. Which took us almost two hours!!!

Because first we had to stop at the zip line for a couple of runs...

... and then we had to rest at the cross-country trailhead at Wayzata High School...

... and climb an old deer stand...

... and watch the WHS lacrosse practice...

... and chill out in the boys' carpeted luxury fort (Guy)...

... Jeremy and Bobby in the fort...

... finally, finally we ran the rest of the way home.

So we did actually log our miles sometime after the sunset. It was getting cold so it was good to get back. And eat sliced oranges. The big juicy ones from Cub Foods.

I swear, it is the coolest thing how well our boys get along; they are like identical kids. At one point Bobby said, "I wish Jeremy were my brother instead of Ally" (which made jPod just beam). OK, maybe that wasn't totally cool because Ally is actually a pretty good sister and we're going to keep her ;-) ... but nevertheless,  Bobby's never said that about any of his other friends; and he's got some great top-drawer friends.

Life is good.

Easter Weekend, part II

Last night the Pettises came over for dinner. Our kids had been playing together all day.

After dinner, the boys allowed us to see the fort they'd been working on:

... check it out - they even put carpeting (moss) on the floor of it!

Bobby and Jeremy showing us where they harvested the moss from... tricky not to fall in the water retrieving it..

And here's Guy my running partner. 

... and here are the parents: Susan and Guy, and Bob and me.

Happy Easter everybody - there may be a part III coming, as a bunch of triathletes are coming over later today for a bike ride. This has been the best weekend ever!

xoxoxox

Jenny

Easter Weekend Underway...

Well, spring has finally arrived in Minnesota - we are hoping to see 60 degrees today - let me tell you it. is. gorgeous. out there today!

Yesterday was Good Friday so the Holmeses and Jenn and Laura came over with all the kids. We made homemade pizzas and then watched The Passion of the Christ. Not an easy movie to watch, and not all the kids took part. But Bobby did and a couple of Trimama's and Taconite's watched as well. It is so powerful and difficult and sad and wonderful and probably a much more accurate depiction of Jesus' final hours than the pared down version from Sunday school. I am amazed everyday by the sacrifice He made for me. Something I could never, ever earn. He is indeed the one true "shepherd of my heart" and my life. Forever.

Which are the words from a song from Guy's running playlist. Which song, you'll have to ask Guy. ;-) He and I got up early this morning for a three-loop run of 7 miles + 7 more + 5 more = a total of 19. First let me tell you the weather was great. We started shortly after the full moon set, watched and listened as the early morning sun woke up the birds, and we just talked for the first 7 miles. I love running with Guy. We would have been best friends if we knew each other in 4th or 5th grade. I KNOW that. ;-) Then for the second 7, Laura and Zurich joined us and the three of us listened to our coordinated playlists - this is my new favorite way to run: to share our lists with each other in advance, then press play at the same time so we could rock out to the same tunes.

We dropped Laura and Zurich and picked up Susan (and Alice her dog) and Margo for the final five. Alice is a bit out of shape from the winter, so we slowed it down a bit for the last loop. But I was happy with that - never have to twist my arm to slow down. ;-) We dropped them off and then Guy and I ran back home for a total of 19 miles. 

1- 9:14

2- 9:18

3- 9:13

4- 9:04

5- 9:10

6- 9:21

7- 9:29

8- 9:34

9- 9:50

10- 9:32

11- 9:25

12- 9:14

13- 9:06

14- 9:02

15- 9:40

16- 10:20

17- 10:14

18- 10:10

19- 10:11

TOTAL - 3:01:24

A perfect morning... but it gets even better from here! Laura took a shower at my house, and called IronGreg while Guy and I were finishing up, so he came over with fresh eggs and orange juice and made all of us omelettes! They were awesome! I love Greg. He is the BEST. Mine had three eggs, sausage and cheese and mushrooms and red bell peppers... mmmm - it was GREAT.

So Guy left shortly afterward to bring the jPod over to play with Bobby. Our boys are building a fort in the woods behind my house. Apparently jPod thinks they should insulate it for winter ;-) ... how can you not love and be grateful for the chance to just be around the imaginations of your kids?! They are so precious to me.

So I'm doing housework for a couple hours now; then Ally and I are going to fly a kite while the boys work on their fort. (They won't let her help with the fort because it's for boys only and she isn't even allowed to know exactly where it is. Neither am I.) 

Have a blessed Easter weekend everybody. 

Hallelujah. He is Risen. 

In case you ever wondered what a bunch of Jesus freaks look like, here are a few of us from last night!

xoxoxo

Dream Date last night

Last night Bobby accompanied me for the Club Run. We ran 5.8 miles in 1:03:00. I was so proud of him! He stayed with me the whole time and didn't run ahead -- just paced himself from the git-go. He's only 10 years old, and I know I never ran that far until I was 39 years old and had recently accepted my now-infamous [drunken] double-dog-dare to run a marathon.

It has been a dream of mine since I became a mom that I would someday run with my children, and now I am doing that with my son. I was so happy running next to Bobby that I felt like crying. (Yeah, I know - I am a total crybaby - but I really did!)

The jPod and Guy ran, too. The boys are tallying up their milage prior to the Deadwood Marathon in June. All the kids who tally up 25 miles before race day, get to run the last 1.2 miles of the marathon, and then receive finisher medals for the Kids' Marathon. Isn't that a cool idea?

So Bobby and jPod and working toward that goal.

How totally cool is that. Life is good.

xoxoxo

April 5, 2009

Work update
I had another great week at Coke, working with one of our Lead Account Managers. Don't know how he feels about being on my blog, so we'll leave him nameless for now. ;-) We've got a big Trade Tour this week with the UPPER upper echelon visiting our market so in addition to maintaining our current business, (I have 600 stores in my district) we are dressing up the stores that are featured on the tour with crisp displays. Friday was an office day, so I was lucky to have a couple of hours to sit with my notes, laptop and reports, and got to sort out all I've been learning, as well as try out the 10,000 tools I have at my disposal. I am a visual person, and visual learner, so I really needed that time to matrix in my head these tools and details that are pertinent to me being able to do this job. 

I will love it. That much I know is true.

Long Run

This weekend I had a taper week, so at Beth's suggestion, UltraGuy and I signed up for a 25K (15.5 miles) in and around Hopkins. It was really hilly but very nice. We all ran together for much of it, but Guy and I gradually pulled away from Beth who was chatting, I mean running with a guy named Noah or Nowell, only to learn that she later ditched him and had to run alone - I'm sorry, friend!!! Beth ran a bit over 5 miles before the race so she could get in a 20 miler - good job!!!

Here we are at the start.

Guy and I ended up averaging 9:38's which I think is great considering the hills and the number of them we had to walk up. ;-)

Saturday night

Laura and Greg hosted a barbecue at their new place, which is adorable. It's bright and sunny (just like them ;-)), and is on Gray's Bay on Lake Minnetonka. So the kids were out on the dock with long sticks, trying to reeeeeeeeach and pull in the last thin slabs of lake ice so they could break them on the sidewalk. (Don't you just still kind of wish you were 8 and 10?) I was so certain somebody was going to go in the water and I'd have to retrieve them. It's shallow enough not to be scary, but I wouldn't want to jump in it and have to drive home freezing and muddy. It was great seeing everybody - Tim and Karen, TriNick, and Jenn Weeks. Jenn made a homemade squash soup that was amazing. She's like our group's resident gourmet chef. Between her and Bob, we should all be fed and happy in no time.

This morning. 

I slept in this morning and here's why - the fresh snow makes the world so peaceful. So this is the view from my bedroom window this spring morning in Minnesota. It's pretty, but enough's enough, ya know??

I will be heading off to church in a bit with the kids. Bob's going to hit the early service so he can try to catch up with us later. He's working with some buyers on the final design of their house plan (they're putting an awesome sport court in the house, which is very cool and fairly common nowadays around here, but requires some specialty construction codes and it has to be right, obviously, without compromising the style and flow of the rest of the house) and hopefully he will wrap that up without having to work all day... because the Pettises are coming over! 

We are planning a multi-family vacation in June, not too dissimilar to the vacation we took last year with the Grays and Holmeses :

....to Washington State last summer (after Ironman Coeur D'Alene):

Guy's been busy finding links and attractions and we're going to sort through and try to get a cabin reserved. Their son Jeremy is the kid who runs 5Ks with Bobby. It will be a couple days on either side of the Deadwood Marathon in South Dakota. So we are plotting Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills later today. 

Have a great day everybody.

xoxoxoxo

Perfect Weekend

I'm a couple days late, but I just have to post that I had the best weekend ever.

Friday after work, (those of you who haven't read lately, I did get the job at Coke and finished my second [great] week there, so when I say after work that's because I have a job now...) I met Susan, Lori, and Carla at Medina Country Club for a quick drink. We all used to run together a couple times a week, we've taken the winter off, and now I can only hope I ever get to run with my girls again! But we had a nice toast and it was great to see them! 

Yes, what you see in the picture is correct -- Susan has pulled out prescription drugs to be washed down with a dirty martini. 

Please don't try this at home. 

Anyway, after a while, Bob dropped off Ally at the club so we could have a little mother-daughter dinner. Amazing how when you only have one kid at a time, there is no fighting, and just lots of talking and bonding. I love her.

Then on Saturday I got up early early and ran just under 21 miles with my good friend UltraGuy. We began in chilly darkness under the stars, then listened as the first birds woke up, and kept running as the sun rose and our world come alive. It was awesome! The miles wore on, as we knew they would, but we were prepared with our iPods. I'd loaded his favorite running playlist, and he'd loaded mine, so we listened song-by-song to each other's faves for the last couple of hours. We went nice and slow and took stretching breaks, and a gas station break and wound up averaging 10:20's. I played with the kids a while, then at night headed over to my good friend Jill's house for a runner/triathlete party. I love you guys! Thanks Jill!

Here I am with IronLaura...

... and Renee and Russ and Dana and Paul... all of us "Puke-and-Rally" teammates from the Colorado Relay...

Then on Sunday morning, Bob and the kids and I met Laura and Greg at church (and you all know how much I LOVE Pastor Dan - feel free to download this week's sermon - just click on the MEDIA tab, then the AUDIO tab, then the date March 29).

And that night Laura, Greg, Bobby, Ally and I headed down to the Excel Center to see Chris Tomlin  -- it was a great concert! Honestly, there is no greater joy in my life than watching my children rock out to great Christian music, praising their God.

The one thing I didn't do this weekend was laundry. Better get on that...

 xoxo