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31 years.  I do believe I start every anniversary post with the number of years.  I can't help it. I don't think I've done anything for 31 straight years except living and breathing.  That is a really long time.  I think both John and I stand in awe of that number because to be honest, we don't feel much older than our late 30s, but as we all know, getting married at age 9 is not legal in the United States. We had a trip to Grand Cayman booked months ago, but as October neared (the month when John has his conference) and COVID wasn't abating, it became obvious that our annual celebration wasn't going to happen.  No worries though--John and I have committed to being grateful for a job this year and have been committed to putting away serious money in retirement.  So, in the days preceding November 11, he was busy pulling call in PA again which, as trying as it is for him emotionally and physically, pays off in so many good ways. But the morning of November 1...

The journey of losing my hair began about ten years ago when I was diagnosed with AERD (Aspirin Exacerbated Respiratory Disease).  Not a lot of research had been done into the disease, but one treatment was rising in acclaim:  aspirin desensitization.  So, I spent two days in the allergist's office, being desensitized to aspirin.  Seeing as I can be sent into anaphylactic shock with any type of NSAID (including aspirin), it was an interesting process to say the least as my eyes slowly began swelling shut, my lungs started closing off, and my nose was a fountain.  However, I made it through (while addressing my Christmas cards) and I have been taking aspirin daily for years.  It definitely helps with some of the side effects, but it's not perfect.  And honestly, taking that much aspirin for that many years is hard on the lining of my stomach, and it acts as a blood thinner so I pray that I don't scrape any body part or brush my teeth too hard. When I wa...

Thanks to COVID and our working schedules, Mark and I haven’t really left Illinois (or really our house) much at all. But when summoned (and asked by the adorable Annie herself) for Baby’s Birthday Bash we knew we’d have to make the trek up. It was a bit awkward given the aforementioned schedules but Mark managed the 5 hr drive while I desperately finished the paper I needed to send my PI.   The weekend was full of delicious food, entertaining movies, many of my favorite Ann Arbor jaunts (Vault of Midnight, what what!), an ever-improving D&D game with Mark running it, terrific costumes, and lots of Kennedy family time.    Some of my favorite moments were the ones I spent with the birthday girl herself. During those times where people were off doing their own thing, and I was between meetings, I hung out with the Annie and Everett. As none of my blood related sisters have children (my sister’s cats do not qualify however she may protest), it’s such a unique experience ...

Dear Baby, Someday, you'll read this, and try and remember the details of your fifth birthday, affectionately known as Baby's Birthday Bash. So, I, along with your other aunt, uncle, grandparents, and parents have decided to record for you the events of your celebration. Lollie told us that if we didn't, we would lose all our Christmas presents, so it seems a fair trade to give you memories of a day in which we celebrated you and how happy we are to have you as a part of our family.  Baby's Birthday Bash was a time of great Halloween celebration and cheer. We laughed, we carved, we sang, and we ate. So. Much. Food. And. Candy. The bowls on the counter were filled with Twix, Reeses peanut butter cups AND pumpkins AND ghosts(Reeses really has it together), Kit Kats, and Milky Ways, and by the end of the BBB, pretty much all of it was gone. Two food-related events I really loved from BBB were Donut on a String and Apple Bobbing. After all, what's better than a little f...

  In anticipation of BBB, we decorated the house with all my favorite decorations.  Thankfully they did not freak Baby and Brother out too much.  Rebecca did a beautiful job of decorating our Musketeer shrank.  The ghosts and skulls and lights all looked so beautiful and creepy.  The giant scarecrow had so many funny and inciteful sayings.  The wicked witch of the west looked so realistic and creepy and said "Ill get you my pretty".  The Dancing skeleton did his song and dance to "Im a super freak/super freak".  The Maudlin skeleton guy said his funny sayings and every time I went by him I thought he was a person.  The skull on a stick was our one continuously active decoration.  My batty bat that sings "you spin me right  round baby, round round like a record baby right round round round" was relegated to the garage for repair which never happened so hes still out there.  The babies had their door knockers and door bells to pl...

 Since I'm teleworking full time, I've been able to run a lot more than usual, so I decided earlier this year to train seriously for a marathon. I've run two, but was pretty half-hearted about the whole thing. It was reflected in my times, with a 5:07 first marathon, and it didn't improve much more with my second. I really wanted to get a sub-4 hour marathon, and convinced Mark to start training for one with me. Since it was a virtual race, we set the date for the week of BBB, I smashed a couple of 16-week training plans together, and since early July we've been checking in daily to keep ourselves accountable for the plan. Glo decided to run a half marathon the same day as us, and she's been sending her daily runs to us as well for the last two months or so. It's been really good for us, and even in the last week since the marathon, I've missed the accountability of it all. We ran it on Friday, and while I think we were all nervous, we woke up in pretty ...

 Before the Halloween Birthday Bash weekend, I had said that I would never run another marathon UNLESS I actually completed a full training plan before then.  And now, after the weekend, I’ve run another one (that’s a total of 5 now). And I’m pretty proud to say that this was my first marathon with a full training plan completed before hand(: It was a 16-week plan that Ethan just kind of threw at me, and we did it together. We had Wednesdays and Sundays off, with consecutively longer and longer long runs on Saturdays, and quite a bit of mileage each week throughout. Honestly I don’t know if I’ve ever run that many weeks of 40+ miles in my entire life.  The result was kind of interesting, because you would think that with all that preparation that I would end up running my fastest ever marathon. But still, my fastest remains the Salt Lake City marathon at 4:36 (and some odd seconds, I don’t remember the time). This one in contrast was an entire 45 minutes slower, at around...

From Birthday Bash weekend, o f all the days Without a doubt, Friday was my fave. Running in the morning and family pictures Ending with pizza for all the race victors. When we were full, practically bursting, We went back home and dispersing, Put on our most comfy of clothes Then rolled up our sleeves to the elbows. From the cutting, pulling, scraping and carving Came designs and faces that were oh so darling. Each little pumpkin, placed in a row, Flicking in the night Happy Hallow's Eve, they said,  each one aglow.        

 I LOVE Fall. Like seriously, love Fall. The colors of the trees, the crispy sound leaves make when you step on them, the crispness in the air - I love it all! But something that definitely deserves a shout out is apples! I really like apples. They are one of my year round, go to fruits, and it's no secret that apples taste best in the fall. I was so happy to see that a trip to Dexter Cider Mill for some donuts and fresh apple cider was on the schedule. On Saturday I got up early to get myself and Annie ready for her group lesson (I was about 3/4 successful ;) ) so that after her lesson we could join the rest of the family for a trip to Dexter. With all the social distancing because of the pandemic the line at the cider mill seemed to be extra long. Thankfully those 6 feet distances keep lines moving pretty fast. Ethan and I volunteered to hop in the line, and we sent our babies with everyone else. Ten minutes later we emerged with two dozen cinnamon sugar donuts and two gallons of...