Fly Like an Eagle!

Our SLCA Cross Country Eagles soared at McAlpine Creek Park today! This was the kind of day that a coach dreams of- almost half the team ran a personal best. Congratulations, Eagles!

Book # 35: Boundaries

Book: Boundaries
Author: Dr. Henry Cloud, Dr. John Townsend
Acquired: Jumped in my cart while I was browsing the books at Salvation Army.

The subheading of this book says it all, "When to say YES, When to say NO to take control of your life."

I would like to buy a dozen copies of this book to hand out to all my friends. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time saying no in this performance-driven, you-are-what-you-produce culture. What if I don't seem spiritual? What if I miss out on something? What if I hurt someone's feelings?

I feel too busy...I think I read somewhere that busyness is a sign of an empty heart....I tried to find it, but found something else:

“We often say we’re busy, but what does this term mean? We just say it without thinking because it’s an easy response and it sounds good. It sounds better to say that we’ve been keeping busy than to say we’re doing nothing, right? . . . Beneath this cultural pressure lies a more poignant and sobering truth: busyness is a sign of vanity. We find our worth through our busyness." - Intervarsity Website

I feel sad for my students. They are the busiest people I know. They fly from one activity to another, filling up their college resumes, yet leaving their hearts behind.

It comes down to this: "Our lives are our responsibility...A helpful way to understand setting limits is that our lives are a gift from God. Just as a store manager takes good care of a shop for the owner, we are to do the same with our souls."

Do you have trouble saying "NO"? NO, to the co-worker who constantly needs you to rescue them from their lack of responsibility? NO, to the friend who only calls to dump all her problems on you and never asks how you are doing? NO, to yourself when you keep wanting to keep hitting the snooze button every morning? NO, to the people in your church who want you to teach Sunday School even though you are already greeting and helping with the Women's Retreat?

READ THIS BOOK!

2. Break 25 minutes for a 5k- Attempt #1

To celebrate 30 years of life, I have a list of 30 things I would like to accomplish this year. Very high on that list is running a 5k in less than 25 minutes. Last fall I ran the HFFA 5k in 25:25, just 25 seconds away!

This morning, however, was not quite so close. It was a slow 27:52 at the Hit the Brixx 5k.

Oh well!

At least three good things came out of this morning:
1. I learned what NOT to do: NO coffee before a run. NO dairy products for breakfast. NO staying up to late the night before. NO waiting til the last minute to hydrate. NO benadryl. NO running while you are sick.

2. I got to eat free Brixx Pizza AFTER the race. YUM!

3. Standing in front of me at the start line was a very inspirational woman. She was wearing a bright blue San Diego marathon technical tee, a bright blue hat to match her shirt, neon green socks, and silver earrings. Her name was Harriette and she was 87 years old! When I asked Harriette about the San Diego marathon her son answered saying that she had won her age group 12 years in a row and had raised more money for Team in Training than anyone else.

I found her name in the results and then asked Mr. Google to help me learn more about this incredible lady - stalker-ish, I know.

Article in Run, Theoden, Run
Article at Runnersworld.com

I hope that I can still run and enjoy life when I am Harriette's age, and perhaps by then I will have broken that 25 minute goal!

Next attempt: Lung Strong 5k in Cornelius on Oct. 16!

14.2 Made from scratch Pizza Dough

Item # 14 on the list of 30 things to do this year: Cook using a recipe....once a month.

I haven't been too consistent on this one, so let's just modify the goal to cook 12 new things from a cookbook! This weekend my niece Cheyenne helped me make homemade PIZZA!! So many questions came up:
- does a teaspoon of sea salt equal a teaspoon of regular salt??!! Not sure, but the pizza dough was way too salty!!
- how do you measure yeast? It says on the back of the packet that one packet equals 2 1/4 teaspoon....but I only needed 1 1/2 of a teaspoon....so I used a teaspoon, but it took the whole packet to fill it up?!
- are there any special rules for using wheat flour?

Cheyenne didn't complain, though, so I am content!

18. Have my niece over for a weekend

My niece Cheyenne came and spent the weekend with me! YAY! We watched the SLCA Eagles win in football, took the dog for a jog, went to the park, made homemade pizza and went to church. Fun weekend! Hats off to my sister who works hard being a mom every day!!

Urban Cowboy

Anyone see anything out of the ordinary in this picture?

The other day I looked out my window to see 8 neighborhood guys ride by on their...horses?