Random Thoughts Thursday

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Overheard during dinner:

• Ellie (with a mouthful of food): "Vicki, you need to work on your table manners!"
• Vicki: "Oh, yeah?  Look who's talking!"
• Ellie: looks around "Duh! Me!"

My NAMIWalk was awesome!  I'm excited to do it again next year.  If anyone wants to join me, let me know!

Tomorrow is Kindergarten Roundup at the school.  Ellie has literally been waiting for this day for an entire year.  She has her wardrobe planned and everything.  I really hope it lives up to her expectations.

I'm registering my baby for kindergarten tomorrow.  Wow.

We tie-dyed t-shirts in Girl Scouts yesterday.  I love tie-dye.  I'm such a hippie.

Tonight is the season premiere of "So You Think You Can Dance".  We promised the girls they could watch it if they're all ready for bed by the time it starts.  Of course, we'll force them to go to bed before it's actually over.  Huh, I should probably tell them that.

With the start of SYTYCD comes one more night that we can't watch LOST.  We're now four episodes into season 5, and no questions are being answered!  How on earth are they going to wrap everything up by the end of season 6?  DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, ANSWER THAT QUESTION.  IT'S RHETORICAL, AND IF YOU TELL ME I WILL HAVE TO RELEASE THE SMOKE MONSTER AT YOU! (what's up with the smoke monster, anyway?  What IS it and where's it coming from?  And why haven't we seen it recently?  Ugh!  See what I mean???)

Does anyone else think Niel Diamond is really good cleaning-the-house music?  Or is it just me?

Less than a month of school left...and then I have a middle schooler!  So not ready...

I think I'm getting a new cell phone next week.  That will be very exciting, since my current cell phone is about five years old.

I want to write a post about why we love our school so much.  Because we really do.  I wouldn't want to send my kids anywhere else.

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Your turn!

If you do a Random Thoughts post on your own blog, I'd love to know about it!  Leave me a comment and I'll come read!

Just Because

Yesterday was an up-and-down day on Lexi's roller coaster ride of life, but she's still my sunshine on a cloudy day.  I love my Lexi-Lou.

Family Try-athlon

My wonderful father-in-law turned 60 at the beginning of this month, and all he wanted for his birthday was for the entire family to join him in a triathlon Sprint (that's half-Olympic distances).

The man on the big day.
(I stole this picture from my sister-in-law's blog.  Sorry, Em!)

I love my father-in-law to death, but any request involving running is not one that I'm terribly excited to meet.

The good news was that the expectations were low.  His plans originally included naps in between each leg.  That's my kind of athletic event.

The event was in the works for several months (Eberts are big on planning.  And pre-planning.)  T-shirts were designed and the date was set for May 7.  The rest of the family is in Utah, so they reserved a swimming pool and plotted out a course for the bike and run/walk.  They kept us Oregonians abreast of the plans and as the big day approached we worked really hard to get in shape and get ready talked a lot about our own participation.

The Sprint distances are 750m swim (1/2 mi), 20k bike ride (12.4 mi), and 5k run (3.1 mi).  We were given the completely guilt-free option of adapting each leg in whatever way suited our abilities.  My abilities are thus: I haven't swam a lap since about 1994, I own a bike and sometimes I ride it, and I loathe running but frequently walk our children to school.

Basically, I figured I'd be fine with walking the 5k, except for the fact that I didn't think I'd live through the swim, let alone the bike ride.

The morning of the 7th, though, I discovered the Ironkids triathlon distances (the Intermediate, for ages 9-11, is a 150 yard swim, 4 mile bike ride, and 1 mile run) and, knowing that Vicki really wanted to participate, decided that of course she needed someone to do it with her.  Problem solved, death averted.
I didn't pull the camera out at the pool, but Vicki and I swam our laps first while Chris played with Lexi and Ellie.  150 yards is 3 laps, which is much more doable than the 18 laps required by the Sprint distance.  Even so, I found the backstroke to be my friend.  The crawl stroke, not so much.  Vicki beat me by a long shot.  Once I could breathe again, Chris and I switched places, and we girls played while he swam.

We decided to do our run/walk before the bike ride, since we were already at the high school.  Lexi took off running, did one lap, and decided she was done.

Go, Lexi, go!

She and Ellie spent the rest of the time crawling under the fence, collecting rocks, and playing on the bleachers.

Prison break?  Nope, just two cute kiddos!

Chris, Vicki, and I walked a mile together before Vicki declared herself done and ran off to join her sisters.  At that point, I was "officially" done, too, since I was doing the same distances as Vicki, but I decided to keep Chris company for the remaining two miles.  Because I'm nice like that, but also because I figured that was the one leg of the Sprint I could actually do without dying.

Here's a view of the lovely weather we enjoyed.

It sprinkled on us a little bit, but the heavens didn't actually open until we were completely finished. Small blessings are sometimes the sweetest.

After we finished at the track, Chris took off on his 12-mile bike ride while the girls and I hung out at home.  It took him about an hour, and then Vicki and I took off.

We rode from our house to the Columbia River and back, which worked out to be 5 miles round-trip instead of 4, but we made it.  Vicki had never ridden that far before, and she did a great job!

Halfway point.  I love where we live!

I'm amazed at how much I actually enjoyed this event.  It would have been more fun to do it with the whole family, but we had a blast on our own.  Ron, if you want to do this every year, we're in (as long as we can still walk instead of run)!

Oh, and Happy Birthday!!!  We love you!

Random Thoughts Thursday

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I was all depressed because no one commented on last week's post, and it was my birthday!  But now I realize that Blogger was having issues right around then (I was out of touch, technologically speaking, for a few days), so I've decided to believe that hundreds of people commented and it all just got lost.  Yes, that's what I believe.

I really want to get back to blogging more than just Thursdays.  I really do.  Why can't I make it happen?

This morning I spent an hour an a half in the dentist's office, having a broken tooth and lost filling repaired.  Now I firmly believe that I was completely scammed several years ago at a different dental office when I had a broken tooth repaired.  This time all they did was fill it and tell me if I experienced pain (which I wasn't anyway) to call them.  Last time I had to suffer through a root canal, crown lengthening (which is dental terminology for "agonizing torture beyond your wildest imagination"), and crown placement in a whole series of appointments.  I was dreading the worst this morning and am content with the amount of agony I suffered compared to what it could have been.

I have now received $350 in donations for my NAMIWalk.  People are awesome.  My people, doubly so.  Thank you!

Today was the Fun Run at the girls' school.   Last year it was raining.  This morning it was about 70 degrees and sunny.  Spring finally decided to show up, and she picked a good week to do it!

Why can't I find motivation to tackle the pile of laundry that resulted from our camping trip?  I've washed everything, but I can't seem to get it interested in folding itself.

It's nice to have my computer back.  But it came back sans all the extra software we installed.  Guess who gets to reinstall everything?

I don't recommend getting a virus in your computer (or anywhere else, for that matter.)

I fully grasp the irony in linking this here, but come on!  How could I not?

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Your turn!

If you do a Random Thoughts post on your own blog, I'd love to know about it!  Leave me a comment and I'll come read!

I'm Just Doing My Part

Just under a week until I participate in the Northwest NAMIWalk!

I first posted about this walk about a month ago, and in that short time I have been amazed at the outpouring of generosity that I've received.  I set an original fundraising goal of $100, feeling fairly confident that I could raise that much over the course of a month without too much trouble.

Within two days I had more than doubled it.

What this tells me, aside from the fact that I am blessed to know some very generous souls, is that fighting the stigma of mental illness is something that is important to more people than I first realized.

It's important to me, as I said before, because I have a close family member who is fighting a valiant battle against mental illness.  And, in fact, this person is not the only member of my extended family fighting this battle.

I'm willing to bet that every single person reading this blog right now knows someone who is battling mental illness in some way, shape, or form.  It's far more common that we'd like to think.  And it's easy to feel helpless when it comes to something like this.  I know I have.  I live too far from this family member to be able to offer any physical support, and so for four years I've wondered what I can do, aside from continual prayers and constant reminders of how much I love them.

But by giving up just a few hours this coming Sunday (and getting some exercise in return!), I will be contributing nearly $300 to NAMI, a wonderful education, support, and advocacy organization that serves all those whose lives are touched by mental illness.  It's not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it's a lot to me.

Most importantly, I'm helping to raise awareness.  Mental illness SHOULD NOT be stigmafied.  For a long time, we didn't understand enough about it, but that isn't true any longer.  Medicine has come a long way, and we now have the capability to treat illnesses of the mind with the same regard as illnesses of the body.  I feel like more is being done lately to help fight the stigma (like this moment on Glee, which made me cry), but we still have a long way to go.

If you are able to contribute even a little toward my walk, I encourage you to do so by visiting my walker web page.  If you are not, and I understand that not everyone is in a position to do so, I encourage you to think about what you can do to help raise awareness and improve the lives of those dealing with mental illness.  If a brisk walk appeals to you, consider joining me on Sunday, so I don't have to walk alone!  (And if you're not local to the Portland Metro area but are interested in walking, check here for a Walk in your state - Utah's is on Saturday, Sept. 24 and I know several members of my family who will be walking then.)

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to those who have donated.  I wish I had a better way to express how grateful I am, and how much it means to me personally, but this will have to suffice.

And to my family member, if you read this (you know who you are!):  I love you.  I don't care whether you've made mistakes, or how badly you think life sucks right now - and it pretty much does suck right now for you.  All that will go away, but you will always be a part of my family, and I will always love you - no conditions, no strings attached.  None at all.  I'm doing this for you, and I just want you to know that.

Random Thoughts Thursday

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Today is my birthday!  Woohoo!!!  I'm turning...29...again ;)

Tomorrow is Chris's birthday.  I love that our birthdays are so close together.   It makes life easier.

All I want for my birthday is for life to be less crazy.  So we're going camping.  I can't wait.

The problem with showing up to parent meetings in our school district is that you find yourself co-chair, at the very least, of all kinds of committees.  Despite clear insistence that there was no way we were going to do it, my friend and I are now in charge of the fundraising for Outdoor School for next year.

I'm going to miss shopping with Ellie next year.  I never thought I'd say something like that, but it's true.  She's so much fun to hang out with.

Planning a camping trip is a lot of work.

Yesterday I quoted "The Simpsons" to Vicki.  She said, "Mom, you're really weird."  One day she'll appreciate my twisted sense of humor.

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Your turn!

If you do a Random Thoughts post on your own blog, I'd love to know about it!  Leave me a comment and I'll come read!

Random Thoughts Thursday (late afternoon edition)

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My computer crashed yesterday.  It's in the shop now.  Of course, the most devastating thing about it was knowing that I might not be able to do a Random post today!  I mean, my public needs me, right?  Right?

Fortunately, Chris's laptop, which for the last two months has refused to work with our wireless connection, decided this afternoon would be a good time to start working again.  So, commence Random Thinking...

I have an irrational fear of double-decker bridges.  I think it stems back to the fact that the first time I'd ever heard of a double-decker bridge was when the Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.  I pretty much hold my breath whenever I drive over the Marquam Bridge.

I learned last weekend that Ellie wants to be a veterinarian, a ski instructor, and in a band when she grows up.  Life is nothing without ambition.

I love book club Thursdays!

I'm supposed to be participating in a family-wide triathlon this Saturday (Chris and I are here, the rest of the family is in Utah).  Should be interesting.  Seeing as how I haven't done a thing to train for it, I may die.

My NAMIWalk is in two weeks!  I'm very excited, and incredibly amazed at the support I've received!

I guess I should start fixing dinner.  I don't want to.  But I will, and it will be yummy.

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Your turn!

If you do a Random Thoughts post on your own blog, I'd love to know about it!  Leave me a comment and I'll come read!