Someone hit my red Mustang about 2 months ago when our family went to see Indiana Jones. They crunched into my trunk and drove away. No “Whoops! Here is my insurance information.” No nothing. It cost my husband and I $500 in deductible to fix the back of my car. *sigh* Thanks for hitting me….NOT!

While I went running this morning, my husband put my car on the street and pulled out the car in the garage so he could work on it. He forgot to put my car back into the driveway. I should have known.

This afternoon we went over to my in-laws for 5 hours to have a barbecue and watch the Olympics. When we got home, we noticed that someone had completely crunched the front left fender of my Mustang. The tire was uninjured, but the front fender and part of my door were crunched badly. My husband thought a truck had done it. My car was parked at least 3 car lengths from the corner of the road. Whoever hit me was a COMPLETE MORON!

We noticed that there was a note on our front door. One of our neighbors had heard/seen a black pick-up truck hit my car. We have some very wild neighbors up two houses that own a black truck. I wonder… The Sheriff talked to our neighbor and added his information to the report. It was a hit-and-run, plain and simple.

We filed a report with the Sheriff and called our insurance. *sigh* That will be another $500 deductible. I must be completely naive. I am honest. Why aren’t other people honest when they make a mistake? *grumble grumble*

I was totally in awe over a Sparkpeople lady that is training for 2 marathons, several halves, and a 60k (37.28 miles). I thought that 26.2 miles was something to be proud of. Apparently, this woman is an Ultramarathoner. What on earth is THAT? Well, I looked it up and this is what I found…*gulp*

“Ultramarathons are run on roads, trails and running tracks. They can be point-to-point, out and back, or loop courses. The most typical distances are 50 kilometers, 50 miles, 100 kilometers, 150 kilometers, 100 miles, 24 hours, 200 kilometers, 48 hours, 200 miles, 6 days, 1,000 kilometers and 1,000 miles. In addition to these fixed distance events there are those in which runners attempt to cover the greatest possible distance within a fixed period of time (24 hours, 48 hours or 6 days).
Runners may take walking breaks, pause to drink or eat, and even sleep if the events are especially long. No penalty results from any such stops, except for the time or distance a runner loses from his or her performance.”

I read that the longest Ultramarathon race is 1,300 miles!!!! There is also the Trans American Ultramarathon that goes from Los Angeles to New York!!! *sniff* These folks must be MACHINES! I…I don’t know how someone can do that. All I can say is Wow…

I thought it would be interesting to see how many miles/calories I am doing on my road to the 2009 Walt Disney World Goofy races. So…why not put them on here? I also decided today that I want to do a few races in preparation for the Goofy. I plan on doing the IBM Uptown Classic 10K on 10/19, the Run for the Water 10 Miler on 11/9, and the Decker Half Marathon on 12/7. That way, I will get some racing under my belt before the BIG ONES in Jan. If the Lord keeps me healthy, I plan on running the 3M Half (Jan) and the AT&T Marathon (Feb) in 2009 also.

August Training & Calorie Intake:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

New iPod arm bad? Check. Nike+ tracking system? Check. New training program? Check. Proper running attire? Check. Motivation to get out of bed early to go run? Well…….

It is marathon training season again. For the month of August, I am just gearing up for longer runs. I ran 4 miles yesterday. That doesn’t sound like a lot I know. However, I ran when it was 90 degrees. To me, I should get extra points for that or something.

My problem is that I enjoy running at the end of my day. I am so busy with homeschooling, extra activities, seeing relatives, errands, etc. that I NEED to run at the end of the day to relax. Running is MY TIME. It is really difficult to run at 5pm when the heat is unbearable. I need to start getting up early and run when it is cooler (can you call 80 degree temps cooler?).

I picked up a book called “The 4 hour marathon”. I honestly don’t think I can do a marathon in that time, but the training program sounds good. I have been using the Hal Higdon plan for several years (for 1 marathon and 2 half marathons). I have also heard that the Jeff Galloway plan is great. That is on my list for 2010.

My training will be different for 2008-2009 as I will be training for harder races. I have my sights on running the 2009 Walt Disney World Goofy Races. That is a half marathon on Saturday, and a full marathon on Sunday. Almost 40 miles in 2 days. That is asking alot from my body. Of course, there are endurance runners that run 100 miles at a time. My hat is off to them! I’ll stick with almost 40 in 2 days, thanks.

Due to a pulled hip and shin splints, I have never run more then 17 miles during training. In preparation for the Goofy races, the training program says I have to run two 10/20 mile weekends (that is 10 on Saturday & 20 on Sunday). *Gulp* That sounds like such a feat!

I would just love to be able to reach 50 years old and have run 10 marathons. To me, that would be awesome. I only have 9 more to go in 10.5 yrs. I can do that, right? Just keep telling yourself that Shan. Just keep saying it. Run Strong!

I get e-mails from time to time from Classmates. If you don’t know what that is, it is a website that lets you connect with former high school, college, and military friends. As my high school had their 20 yr. reunion this year (yikes!), our Classmates group has been active. I didn’t go to my reunion, but I have wondered from time to time what former friends have been up to.

So…I have gotten several messages over the last few months that folks have left messages on my Classmates page. The downer is that in order for you to see who sent you a note, you have to pay bucks. I really wish that Classmates had a “one day fee” where you could read notes and exchange e-mails. That would be nice. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. The minimum membership is 3 months. I don’t need to be a member for 3 months. I just want to catch up with a few old friends. Talk about our kids and what life has been like.

I went on Classmates yesterday to look around. For some reason, I was curious and decided to look up my husband’s old girlfriend and my old boyfriend. Wow! People sure do change. When we are younger, we feel like we can’t live without someone, and then we are crushed when life doesn’t conform to our desires. I read both of their bios and realized that life turned out the way it should. Our first loves aren’t always the ones that we will spend our life with. Having a crush on someone doesn’t mean that they will become your mate.

I also looked up a dear guy friend of mine that I really missed when he graduated. He was extremely kind and always knew the right things to say. I remember starting to like him more then a friend in my junior year. I made the mistake of asking him to a dance. Our relationship changed after that and he distanced himself from me. I still wonder why that ever happened. Some friendships should stay just that - friends. I sent him a note saying how I have been and asking for his bio. I wonder if he knew how much losing his friendship hurt me back then.

I saw that one of my former classmates was diagnosed with cancer and had very little time to live. She was leaving behind a small son. How sad. I didn’t know her well, but I do remember her being as cute as a button and very nice.

I am still debating about the 3 month membership thing. I didn’t go to my class reunion because I was never part of the “in crowd”. I was an art nerd and didn’t fit in with the stereotypical groups. I just couldn’t see rubbing elbows with folks that didn’t care for me (or made fun of me) 20 yrs. ago. I wonder if I should fork out a few bucks and reconnect with those that were my friends. Maybe I can talk to my old friend again. I hope he is as happy in his life as I am in mine. I hope that he is happily married to a wonderful person too. Time sure does change who we are. Life is funny like that.

This post really isn’t for anyone in particular. I just need to get something off of my chest. First of all, in my immediate life, things are pretty good. I feel blessed beyond measure to have the love of my husband and son. Besides bumps in the road, we are very fortunate and our lives are fruitful. Sure, I could be slimmer. We could have more in our savings account. We could take more family vacations. Gas prices going back under a dollar would really make my day. Other than that….we are blessed.

There is something about me that makes folks want to talk to me. I have had complete strangers tell me about their health problems. I have had people tell me about their multiple credit card debt. I have had them tell me what they really think about their spouse, etc. Most of this, I never see coming. Maybe they get a vibe from me that says: “Sure, you can tell me about your constipation problems. I care about you and you can share anything with me.” Funny thing is, they DO tell me. To the point where I wonder to myself: “Why did I need to know that? What on earth made them tell me that?”

For whatever reason, people share things with me. Sometimes, the things that they share with me are intimate and extremely private. I wonder if it is my faith that makes them tell me things. Maybe these people know that I can be honest with them and that I know that God has a plan for everything. I might not (ok, I usually don’t) know the road that the plan is following, but I know there is a route and a destination.

Over the last few months, I have heard/seen pain from so many people. So many of the folks that I know are drowning from the selfishness of others. Family members that make promises and don’t keep them. Spouses who would rather spend time with an opposite-sex friend then with their spouse. People caring for ill/elderly relatives that cry out for extended family to help - only to be told NO. People lying to one another and seeing the emotional damage, but continuing to hurt further. I feel so badly for all of these people. I can only listen to their pain and pray that things will get better. My heart hurts for these people. I get so frustrated for them. I get so angry.

I so wish that I could pull the selfish aside and give them a stern talking to. I would say something like: “What are you thinking???? Don’t you see what you are doing to those that love you? When you say you are going to help someone or spend time with them, DO IT! When you owe someone money, a favor, or your attention, step up and do it. Don’t you know that by giving to others, you are making a better person inside of yourself? Knock it off!”

Not that these people will listen to me. Not that they listen to those that they are hurting either. I think selfishness is becoming fashionable in our world. I am seeing more and more people wear it. Personally, I think it is an ugly fashion trend. I would rather wear: loving, supportive, attentive, and kind. They are more my style.

Like many people in this world, I got my wisdom teeth in my late high school years. Going through teething pains at age 16-17 wasn’t fun. I really felt for toddlers and their plight during my teen teething years. Until my mid-30’s, my wisdom teeth were just there and never gave me problems.

Due to a cavity, I had one wisdom tooth removed about 6 years ago with the promise of the rest removed at a later date. We then lost our medical insurance. Over time, my tiny wisdom teeth cavitities turned into caverns big enough for spelunkers. Pieces of my teeth came out on a regular basis. They had to go. The Lord blessed us with a job that included dental insurance (angels singing in joy). Now I could have my pesky wisdom teeth taken out. Oh joy! The oral surgeon (thanks Dr. Bonasso) set a date for the removal of my 3 remaining wisdom teeth.

On my initial consultation, I was asked to watch a 15-minute video explaining the procedure and after effects. Someone needs to talk to the DVD marketing department about this one. When you are told “there is also a chance of fatality” at the end of an information video, your viewing audience isn’t entertained.

As I am just shy of 40 yrs. old and never been put under, I was very anxious. I made the mistake of looking on Google for pictures of the procedure (not advisable unless you have a strong stomach). I am one of those people that bruise easily. Would I look like I had gone 5 rounds in a cage fight when it was all over? Would I have a black eye? Would I incessantly drool and live on soup for weeks? Would I freak out when they tried to give me drugs to Nighty-Night Land?

I can honestly say that the surgery was amazing. My oral surgeon knew I was nervous (could be the fact that I was talking a mile a minute and couldn’t stop fidgeting that gave it away). He said he was going to give me a “Morning Margarita” via the tube in my arm. I laughed and said something stupid about drinking so early in the morning. The next thing I knew I was being woken up and taken into a room to rest. Was it already over? No way! That was quick!!!

My mouth only bled for about half a day. Today is four days after surgery and I have only needed 3 Vicadin and a small handful of Ibuprofen. My face is just slightly swollen, but I don’t look like a squirrel getting ready for Winter. No bruises are visible. What on earth was I so worried about?

I did have to eat smooth foods for the first two days (i.e. yogurt, fat free pudding, soup, etc.) I had salad last night and my gums protested from all the chewing. Other then that, my surgery went great. I do wish that I had asked for one of my teeth though. I would have liked to have seen the little bugger. I know that is weird. I just find anatomy interesting. Maybe I should have been a doctor? If not that, one of those folks that makes skeletons for science classrooms?

When I was about 7 or so, I had a great babysitter. Her name was Denise Rushing. She lived down the way from our family and I just adored her. She was sweet. Her mom always made the best chocolate chip cookies when we went to her house…and she had a swimming pool. I remember going to her house one hot, summer day to go swimming. I don’t remember the specifics, but I remember being thrown into the deep end of the pool. I could not swim and I panicked. Denise had to jump in to rescue me. That moment forever changed my perception of deep water and learning to swim. My babysitter thought it was funny. My sub-conscience filed it away in the “things to avoid” department. I still can’t swim very well. I probably never will.

My husband and I didn’t want our son to be afraid of water. For four summers, we had signed up our son for week-long swimming lessons at the local pool. He would have an instructor and 3 or 4 fellow students learning to swim. Although he listened and tried to learn, he just didn’t get the hang of things.

We found out that Boy Scouts insists on boys knowing how to swim. Not only knowing how to swim, but swimming well and learning how to save someone that is drowning. We had reached the point where our son HAD to know how to swim. It wasn’t a “if you feel like learning” thing. It was mandatory.

I went to our local pool asking for private lessons. I was told that someone would call me, but after two weeks, I went elsewhere. I messaged our local high school swimming coach. He said he would teach a 20 minute lesson for $30! (Did he think my last name was Rockefeller or something?) I prayed and kept looking. I then remembered that a fellow scout/homeschooler that we know will be training for a lifeguard. Ah ha! Just what I had been praying for!

We hired this wonderful 15 yr. old boy to teach our son to swim. On the first lesson, the boy noticed that our son knew how to swim in the back of his brain. He just needed the confidence and reassurance that he could do it. In five lessons, our son had so much confidence that he started jumping off the high dive into 12 ft. deep water at our local pool. Those lessons were the best $60 I have EVER spent. To see the huge smile on our son’s face when he jumps off the high dive is priceless.

This week he is going to camp. He can’t wait to take his swimming test in order for him to play in the pool. It know he can do it. I never fails to amaze me how many of us just need a push or a “you can do it” from those around us. When we do, we can do anything.