Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Since Anna's blog is private (and inaccessible to most), I copied her post about her recent trail run.  She wrote about it much more philosophically than I did, and I love it. I'm so grateful that I have a body that allows me to run. Running has proved to work wonders for my stress, and for my physical and mental well-being. I've evolved into a new "Anna" through running and training for races.   This past weekend, I ran my first trail race. Going into it, I had NO idea what to expect. I actually thought it would be a nice path through a wooded tree area. Boy, I was WRONG! The trail included running through rivers, up and along such narrow pathways on the side of mountains, and through legit mud holes. It didn't help that I forgot to wear my Garmin GPS watch. Not only was I clueless to where I was running, I had no idea how far I had run and how much longer I needed go. The race became a total mental feat.   I could hear myself breathing heavily. I cou...

I was so thankful to have Anna here on Easter, especially when my boys weren't here.  Too, I was thankful to see that her mother taught her well, and she came, planning to dress up for the day.  Easter is such a beautiful time, for the earth, and for us spiritually, and I think it's appropriate to specially dress for the day.  Enjoy!

John loves everybody, and I mean everybody, but he has a special place in his heart for Anna for one reason:  she runs. If you know John, you know he runs.  Instead of taking a break at lunch each day, he goes running.  He runs in the rain, in the snow, in the wind, in the heat.  He usually runs 7-10 miles a day. Last year, Anna started running.  She trained for the Philadelphia Half Marathon and ran it in November.  You better believe when she visited last November, John roped her into going running with him. And you know what?  She kept up with him!  In fact, he loved every minute of it. So, when he found out on Tuesday that she was coming for a visit, he called me back and asked if she would like to run "The Dirty Kiln Trail Run" with him.  I asked her, and she said the five-mile run wouldn't be a problem, and yes! sign her up. So, funniest John-story in a while.  He registered her online, and he couldn't remember her l...

{I can hardly believe how far behind I am blogging!  I'm afraid that I'm still recovering from surgery, so when I'm not doing something that I "must" do, I'm resting.  Unfortunately, this translates into no new posts.  Sorry family--I know how disappointing it is to check the blog and find nothing new.  It's 3 a.m. now--what better time to blog?} I would like to think of last week as "the week of Anna".  Honestly, of the seven days in the week, I was with her for five of them, so I'm not that far off. For a few weeks now, I've been planning a trip to New York City to see Anna.  She let me know of a concert in which she would be performing, and I couldn't resist!  So, being on narcotics and unable to drive long distances, I booked my trip with Megabus.  Thankfully, Anna's roommate moved out of her dorm room last semester, and she had a free bed for me.  What a trip down memory lane THAT was--living in the dorm again :-) I ar...

Gloria is the only girl in her STEM class at school (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). It's a voluntary class, and she signs up for it every semester.  In fact, her Tech Ed teacher "pushes" her to sign up, and tells us that she has a knack for engineering.  I can tell how much she loves it, because it's the first thing she tells me about after school--"So, in Tech Ed today..."  For the past five months, the group has been working on making a wind turbine. This week, they put it on the roof and made the news! (She's obviously the one in the french braids (and her Earth Day t-shirt (yes fashion and function can mix)), and her voiceover is heard right at the beginning after "Jeff Preval found". She's also in the last two shots of the telecast.  I'm so proud of her.  Go girl power! Glo and the Wind Turbine

I had one of those "ah hah" moments today.  Something perhaps that I already knew but was reminded of. Last week, when I went in for my follow-up appointment (aka the NIGHTMARE), I had a hard time making it through to the end because I didn't honestly know what was going to happen during the appointment and when faced with pain and suffering, I didn't know how long it would last. Any of you who have run a marathon, or done something else incredibly hard, will know that half the battle with pain is a mental one.  Yes, your body hurts and yes, you are tired, but as long as you keep positive thoughts in your head, you feel that you can make it.  When I ran my marathons, it was a conversation in my mind of "just make it to the next mile marker", or "only six miles left to go" or "I'm already half-way done".  I knew what I had to endure and I felt like I could muster the strength to make it.  Going into labor is the same thing.  A cert...

We finally have a date!  A for-sure, not-going-to-change date for Ethan's homecoming!  Wednesday, July 11.  I can't tell you the relief this has given me.  This date has been up in the air for literally the last four months (when it shouldn't have been), so it's nice to put it on the calendar and know that it's going to happen. Mark leaves Wednesday, July 18.  This means the boys will be able to see each other for a week.  Because we will be at Interlochen, Ethan will fly straight to Traverse City and spend the rest of the week with all of us.  That weekend, we will head back to State College.  Then, we are hoping that Ethan can give his homecoming talk on the following Sunday when Mark can give his farewell talk in church (July 15).  Of course, it wouldn't be a Kennedy missionary Sunday without a musical number! Finally, we're planning on Ethan taking Mark to the MTC.  John and I can't get work off, and honestly, there isn't much to...

While I'm waiting for a video to upload to YouTube... Two food items have been stars in our home this past week: Sumo Mandarins .  Have you heard of them?  They are a piece of heaven on earth.  Being the picky eater I am, my fruit must be perfect.  There's nothing I love more than the clementines we used to buy in Germany (well, a good melon does take the cake...), but I have been unable to find the same quality clementines here.  They look the same, and they are packaged the same, but they are definitely not tasty. I was looking forward to the cruise for the oranges they serve.  Last year, we ate them like candy, because they were just as good as any candy.  Sweet, juicy and wonderful.  This year, they were dry and sour. So, our local Wegman's was giving out free samples of Sumo Mandarins.  They are the biggest clementines/nectarines I have ever seen, and we are devouring them.  Wouldn't it figure that they have a super short g...

How thankful I am that I can go to sleep and wake up the next morning to a new day. Yesterday was a nightmare.  Seriously, it's been a long time since I've had that bad of a day, and it was the biggest relief to know that today would not be the same. I spent the entire day yesterday crying.  My eyes were completely swollen by the end of the night.  The only release I had from the trauma which I had experienced was watching TV--it was the only time I could stop thinking about how scared I had been.  I went to bed, and for the first time since my surgery, I fell asleep.  For a solid six hours even. I was scared to wake up this morning.  I was scared to relive my fear from the day before.  I was worried that my sinuses would be causing me pain.  I was worried that I would spend another day crying. So, I decided to do what I should have been doing for the past six days. I took it easy.  Yes, I still got up with the girls and got them ou...

{This isn't very well written or thought out.  I basically just vomited my feelings onto the page.  My apologies.} Today was a no good, horrible, very bad day, and I have my own pride to blame for it.  If you are squeamish, don't read this (this is your one and only warning). I'm now five days post-op.  As with my previous surgeries, I have a burst of energy after the surgery itself. In four days, I slept 13 hours total, and I did more than I usually do in a day.  Just see the St. Patrick's Day post below as an example.  It's mostly a side-effect of the steroids.  Yesterday, I could feel things were beginning to change.  For the worse. I had a follow-up appointment today with my ENT.  While this man is probably the best ENT in the area, and I'm thankful that he agreed to do my surgery, he is a bit emotionally distant, perhaps even immature.  He doesn't communicate particularly well, and frequently leaves me with feelings of guilt b...