Such a long hiatus

I apologize for taking such a very long break from blog-land. I don't really have a very good reason for being gone other than to say I've been busy lately, but then haven't most people? I hardly think my life is that much busier than most, and if it is then I should definitely slow down. That's not the case. I'm slow enough.

Yes, I wrote those very words and meant every bit of it, sadly. I am slow. Too slow. If only I were faster my long runs wouldn't last so dreadfully long. I can't even call them "runs" because they truly aren't. They're jogs and they are pitifully slow for me, at around a 10-12 minute per mile pace. At my current rate, it takes me about 2 hours to complete 9-10 miles. And when my hubby comes home from a 9 or 10 mile run in a little over an hour, well, I should just hang my head in shame, shouldn't I?

But yet I still get out there and plug away at it once per week. I usually hit the track on Tuesday's for a long session. This past Tuesday found me needing to get 11 miles again. I had done it the week prior and wanted to repeat it this week. So, despite the fact that I had several good reasons to NOT go jog (girls were out of school, James was home, it was my birthday!) I hit the track for a goal of 11 miles. I wanted to quit at six due to some serious hip flexor pain. I stretched and muddled through for three more miles before finally calling it good enough. I felt quite disappointed in myself and the outcome, but when you're hurting you're hurting, ya know?

So, I'm trying to figure out the hip thing, hoping I can ease the tightness out enough that it won't bother me during the half-marathon, which is less than 2 months away now. I've got an easier training week coming up with about 6-8 miles planned on Tuesday. I might re-evaluate that as Tuesday approaches and aim a little higher, like 8-10, but that's just crazy talkin', not really seriousness.

In other news, Morgan had her birthday in late October and has now turned 11. What a big girl! And where did the time go? It's amazing, remarkable, sad, unbelievable, fantastic, and shocking all at once. My baby girl, how proud I am of her, how sad to think of the years gone by, how in awe of what those years have brought. I can only Thank God for the most precious gift ever and ask for nothing but another day.

My parents came down for a visit in early October. It had been nearly four years since my Mom had been down here and I was thrilled to have her back. Her work schedule has just kept her too busy at home to allow for a trip to see us, so our visits have always been with her in Missouri for the last few years. It was great to have her back down here (thanks for all the sewing you do, Mom!). I hope we don't have to wait four more years for another visit.

While they were down here, Dad built a bunk bed for Bethy. He and James worked like madmen on that thing, building it entirely from scratch. Dad has a wonder assortment of tools and he brought a fair share of them down here to work with. Between the two guys and about 24 hours of building crammed into two days they got the bed built. Over the next week James and I drove ourselves nuts sanding the bed, priming, and painting it. We've still got a bit more touching up to do on it, needing to get a third shade of pink applied for some pretty contrast. We'll get to that one of these days. In the meantime, Bethy uses it and loves it despite the fact that it looks like Pepto-Bismol has been poured all over her room. Her room, literally, gives off a pink glow out into the halls. Yep, that's our princess for ya!

As I said earlier in this post, I had a birthday this past week. I'm now 34 and happy to be an "even" age again. I don't know why but odd numbers have always bugged me. I didn't like 31, and despised 33, but 34 is just fine. Having recently had the gray in my hair colored helps "34" be an easier pill to swallow, too.

James has found out he'll be reassigned to a different unit on post which will mean no deployments for him for at least a couple years. We share mixed emotions about this as he will not enjoy the new job nearly as much, but at the same time he'll be home most every night. I know everything rests in God's Hands and so I know that his new job will bring with it a blessing of some sort. It may be hard to find the joy in the orders right now, but time will eventually show us what the reason was for being in this position. The glass needs to be half-full, right? That's the best way to live life.

And on that note I'll end this post. May you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy all the blessings that have been bestowed on each of you.