This spring break may go down in history as the most boring one my kids have had to date, lololol. I’m too early into my new job to have any vacation and it snuck up on Bill too. We did try to do a few things with them around here, but I’m going to need to up my game this summer. Bill and I both working full time is a different calculus for what to do with our kids when they’re off school.
We started the week with a library trip, the first one post Covid. We got out of the habit when everything closed down and it was fun to go back. We’ll be doing that more regularly.
We also adopted a cat! This is Freya. She is a two and a half year old tabby that we rehomed from a neighbor. They had gotten a second cat and it didn’t work out. We’ve been promising Aaron we’d get a cat before his birthday and we finally pulled the trigger. She’s still a little skittish around the kids, but it’s better every day. She’s pretty cute! She hangs out mostly in me and Bills room.
We went to my nephew's graduation on Friday night. I hadn't really thought about it beforehand, but he graduated from the same school that I did 11 years ago. It was a really nice ceremony. Super great speakers, bit of a walk down memory lane, good times. We even saw our old neighbors from Colorado Springs, who I haven't seen most of them for probably 15 years. That was awesome.
Saturday I ran the Salt Lake Marathon 10K. It was awesome! I have struggled for a full year with several injuries, first a hamstring, then two different hip issues, and I've done so much chiropractic care and went to a running specific physical therapist and so many other things. I got x-rays and an MRI and at one point was told I may have to stop running if they found anything in those scans. Thankfully they didn't, but I've put so much work into healing, and I wouldn't say I've gotten there yet, but tons of progress has been made. I trained for the half marathon but didn't sign up because I wasn't sure I'd be able to run it. When I finally decided I would be able to, the price had gone up enough that I didn't feel like spending those dollars, so I signed up for the 10k instead, with a bunch of my friends from my South Jordan Run Club that I joined a couple years ago and have just really enjoyed ever since. That felt like a wise decision when two weeks ago I got rear ended and sprained my back and got whiplash. I've been doing extensive chiropractic work since and am feeling consistently better, but I'm still so stiff and sore. Okay to workout, but I feel it sometimes after.
The race itself was bonkers. We rode TRAX up from Daybreak and when we got to downtown Salt Lake it was sleeting pretty heavily. That chilled out pre-race, but it was still raining as the race started. There were puddles everywhere that I tried to avoid a bit, but as the race progressed the weather picked up again. I couldn't really see where the puddles were because it was coming down so hard. At mile four or five graupel started coming down. We called that corn snow when I was a kid, but just that hard snow that is like soft hail. It was mixed with the rain, so we all just kind of had to duck our heads down and muscle through. This is me at the finish line. I actually ended up with a really good time all things considered. Faster than my training runs, which is always how I like to be. I was soaked to the skin. I didn't bring a jacket or anything, and my gloves had gotten soaked, so basically I just froze while we went and got post-race food and cheered on everyone as they came in. It was memorable to say the least! Honestly, still so fun. I love to run with friends. The running conditions are just part of the experience. I was an ice cube by the time I got home and the hot shower was so amazing.
We hosted the graduation party for my nephew on Saturday and that was tons of fun. We had planned to get porch furniture this summer, but pulled the trigger on the couch part of it this week so we'd have more seating. I love it so much. We assembled it Thursday and of course Friday we had a crazy dust storm, so I had to vacuum it all off before Saturday, but we really enjoyed using it Saturday. I plan to get a gas fire pit as well as some plastic floor tiles to add to the space. Maybe an umbrella as well. It's really delightful to have that porch space now. We haven't used it all winter.
Me and my three oldest siblings. I've got three others spread across the country and world, but it was really fun to have four of us together, plus mom and grandma plus all the spouses and kids. Three of us live here in Utah, but my brother and family flew in from California and that was awesome.
