First swing through workshop land

We got back from Dallas this afternoon, all tired out but jazzed up after attending the DCS Publications Workshop.

Nine of my students attended the workshop, and I taught the Photo Editors sequence to campers from other schools. My nine students were eight girls and one boy. That ratio is pretty much par for the course at yearbook camp - always about 10 girls for every boy (sing that to the Beach Boys tune...).

Thankfully, I have great kids for students, very hard workers who can be trusted to attend their sessions and not have attitudes for their instructors. That makes me happy, and makes my job so much easier.

June was the vacation month for me - a little marathon training, some gardening, work around the house, TV time, etc., and July is the worky-worky month. I'm home for two days, and Saturday morning I head to Florida for Jostens Adviser University.

I'm pretty excited for it - the instructors are the best in the business, and I'm actually getting to TAKE a class instead of teaching at the workshop, so I'm ready to soak up some new strategies.

Seattle PRIDE Parade - Sunday, June 28, 2009

Race weekend was a biggie for the city of Seattle.
The marathon alone brought in 25,000 runners, not to mention their friends, family and supporters.
Shuttle drivers told us there were three or four cruise ships in port, adding even more people to the fray.
Then, Sunday, when we woke up and went out in search of breakfast, Mitzi and I found the staging area for the Seattle Pride Parade - right outside the front doors of our hotel.

It was a nice distraction for us as we walked along trying to loosen up our tired legs. After we had breakfast, I went back and got Adam, and he and I walked along the route for a while. The parade started 11, and when we were waiting for our airport shuttle at 1 p.m., it was still going strong!


Adam took a bunch of photos. I was playing with the flip camera, so no stills for me.

The floats and parade walkers were pretty amazing and intricate.


We thought maybe we found a girlfriend for Minnie...

It was cool to see all of the support for the gay community - there were TONS of people at the parade.

Teamwork makes the Dream work!

Any of my co-workers who read that title will smile, since it's something we hear a lot at school. Even though it's a school thing, it's quite appropriate for Mitzi's and my latest hare-brained scheme.

We did it! We finished the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon last Saturday morning. We did it together - not only the 5 hours and 45 minutes it took us to run the race, but all the miles and miles of training and the ups and downs of raising more than $4,100 each.

Five months of Saturday mornings coming WAY too early, five months of sending e-mail after e-mail to all of our friends and family (thanks to all of you by the way!), five months of What Ifs? and How do wes? Five months of pounding the pavement in our trusty running shoes.

The above photo is deceiving because the light makes it look like it's in the middle of the day. That picture was taken about 4:30 in the morning when we got to the start line area. That's Mitzi on the left, along with other TNTers Jeanne, Melinda and Mary. You can see us all there with our various gear - water, Cytomax, PowerBars, sweatshirts, sweatpants, etc.

Mitzi and I woke up at 3:15 that morning, put on sunscreen, put on Body Glide (in hopes of heading off chub rub and blisters, at least in my case), put on sports bras, socks, singlets and shorts, and finally shoes, waist packs and hats. Each of us laid out everything we would need on Friday night, so we wouldn't have to look for anything on Saturday morning.

Even though we were far from home, in a different time zone, we tried to keep everything as routine as possible that morning.

It was anything but.

Up super early, bus to the starting line. We arrived there about 4:30. We brought bagels and peanut butter with us, so that we wouldn't have to start the race hungry. Usually we only have about an hour between eating and running, and this time it was much, much more because of the wave start.

Luckily, the coffee shop behind the girls in that photo had a $1 cup special, so we were able to have some coffee with the food, which is a BIG part of the morning routine.

We started in corral 25, so it took almost 50 minutes for us to cross the start line after the gun went off. If you look at our finish time, it looks like it took 6 hours, 28 minutes, but not really.

The first half of the course was nice - ran along the water, some nice downhills, saw a bald eagle perched low in a tree, lots of spectators.

The second half - not so much.

Adam took this photo of us as we passed him and our friend David around mile 15. It was somewhere near downtown Seattle. Here, we're still feeling mostly okay...

The second half of the course was much hillier than I expected, and most of it was running on elevated highways, so they wouldn't let the spectators up there. When the going got tough, it was tough to be up there. We had to dig deep to keep on moving. We told a few stories, played a few games, yelled "Go Team!" to all the other Team in Training runners. We took walk breaks (more than we typically would), since it was hilly and actually a little bit hot.

I know - it was like 110 in the shade in KC that weekend, and only about 75 in Seattle, but when running, it feels 20 degrees hotter, so it was a little warmer than we expected.


That's Mitzi as she crosses the finish line. Didn't Adam do a great job taking photos?


I still had some gas in the tank for the last quarter-mile or so, so I really kicked up my pace so I could finish strong. It made me feel great and proud to hear people saying "Go Jill, you're doing great!" but in all the photos after I crossed the line, my mouth is open since I am breathing so heavy!

I've now finished two marathons. I think if you'd have told my 18-year-old self that, she would say YOU'RE CRAZY - there's no way!

Thanks to Adam and Mitzi for being great travel companions and Mitzi for being an awesome training partner. I couldn't have done it without either of them.


I will put up another post later this week with travel-type photos of places we saw and things we did. I wanted this one to be mostly about the race itself.

Birthday Boy's Wishes

When this little guy asks nicely, how can you say no to that face?

Mom and Dad said Malachi called and said "Aunt Susie, can I come over and swim?" Since Aunt Susie's the landlord (and she bought the pool) we can't say no...

Not that we would have, of course.

Julie got him all geared up in his matching Spiderman water wings, goggles, trunks and innertube, and he hopped right in. Sorta.

It took a few minutes of hemming and hawing around the ladder before he finally got in, but once we convinced him there weren't any sharks in the water, he dove in. He's pretty tough, considering we had all gotten out a few hours earlier because we were getting "cold."

I suppose when you've just turned four, getting to go swimming outweighs being cold.

Malachi did manage to find the few sunny spots left in the pool. After about 5 p.m., most of the pool is in the shade, so unless it's still 100 outside, it can get chilly.

Adam showed him how to blow water out the end of the pool noodles, and Malachi thought that was pretty funny.

I'm glad Malachi and Julie got to come over. We love to have visitors, and we missed his birthday pizza party on Sunday since we were still in Seattle.

Happy Birthday, little Dude!

How does your garden grow?

So, if you follow me on Twitter, or if we're friends on Facebook, you've seen photos of our garden bounty recently. For tonight's dinner, we had peas, carrots, onions and zucchini straight out of the garden with our turkey dogs. It was YUMMY, even though as we were shelling the peas, Adam said "This is a lot of work."

Yeah, but it's worth it when you taste it.

This is what it looked like just after it was tilled in the early, early spring. Mom and Dad and Mom's friend Jeannie planted a bunch of stuff. Jeannie has been working it a lot, weeding and taking care of it.




This is what it looks like today. If anyone wants to remake the Stephen King horror classic "Children of the Corn" we've got the prime location for you.


Here's another view where you can see the corn, green beas, peas, zucchini, cucumbers, etc. Tomatoes are in there somewhere, too. As you can see, all the rainy and cool weather we've had this summer has lent itself to a bountiful green garden.

This is what we used out of the garden for dinner tonight, except the jalapenos and green beans. Saving the jalapenos for a little homemade salsa (we hope) and I took the green beans over to dad. He said he'd been craving some of those.

We'll probably be making some zucchini bread soon...


•••

Thanks for hanging in and continuing to check the blog. I'm a little overextended in cyberspace, and the blog has definitely suffered. I would still like to use it to keep in contact and to generate a little Google Ad revenue, so hopefully I can get it back up and running...

Summer time, where did you go?

Looks nice and warm in those photos, doesn't it? It WAS nice and warm on the days we set up and filled the pool, but since then, it's only been warm enough to get in it twice.

Twice!

Now, I can't be totally angry about this - the weather has been good for the garden (post and photos of that to come later this week), but we haven't done any lazing around in the sun and pool. Boo!

Hopefully, by the end of this week, I'll actually have photos of us IN the pool, instead of hanging out by the side of it.

Last night, we did eat dinner on the front porch, sitting on the swing. It was quite nice. I'm conflicted - usually I love hot summer weather, but being able to sit outside without breaking out in insta-sweat has been nice.

Memory Lane

So Betsy posted this a long time ago, and Mitzi finally updated her blog with it, so I thought tonight it would be my turn.

The rules: Bold the things you’ve done, and post on your blog!

Update: post has been edited to add asterisks to the things I've done. After I posted, I checked the blog and couldn't tell the difference between the bolded and not bold things.

1. Started your own blog*
2. Slept under the stars*
3. Played in a band*
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower*
6. Given more than you can afford to charity*
7. Been to Disneyland*
8. Climbed a mountain*
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo*
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea*
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch*
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning*
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables*
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight*
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill*
24. Built a snow fort*
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping*
27. Run a marathon*
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse*
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset*
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise*
33. Seen Niagara Falls
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community*
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied*
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke*
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing*
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling*
52. Kissed in the rain*
53. Played in the mud*
54. Gone to a drive-in theater*
55. Been in a movie*
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies*
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason*
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check*
68. Flown in a helicopter*
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy*
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial*
71. Eaten caviar*
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square*
74. Toured the Everglades*
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle*
79. Seen the Grand Canyon
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car*
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper*
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House*
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox*
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous*
92. Joined a book club*
93. Lost a loved one*
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo*
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone*
99. Been stung by a bee*
100. Bought your own home*

I have done 50 of the things on the list, so I'd say that's a good start for a 32-year-old. Hopefully I'll get some frequent flyer miles saved up and knock out the traveling items I haven't done yet...

Lists like this have to strike me when the mood is right. Usually, I think they're silly, but it was fun to go through this one. It brought back tons of memories of my early time in Wichita - the meteor shower with Travis, Teresa and Andy, filming "Dancing on the Moon" with Rod and the crew, the awesome Eagle ladies book club, and Hubs and my honeymoon. Each of those would have been blog posts unto themselves had I had a blog back then.

I wonder who comes up with lists like this. If I were to make up my own list, what would I include? Maybe that will be a blog post for another day.