Michigan

We got back from Michigan yesterday, we were there to visit C’s Uncle and I ran the Grand Rapids half marathon (2:00:46). Yes, that is 47 seconds over where I wanted to be, but I will take it considering I have only run three times in almost the past month. It really is a love/hate thing; I despise running, but I like the feeling of accomplishment and let’s me do things like eat a bag of Halloween candy (more on that later).

It was a really nice time up there. We were able to sethingsgs from the other side of Lake Michigan and actually slow down a little. I took off of work a little early on Friday and we traveled up there with the kid in tow and a car packed full of Portillos (the family are addicts like us), one suitcase for C and I and then the rest was packed with everything Maya. It is ungodly how many things a 15-month old needs. (yes, Maya turns 15 months tomorrow)


This is Courtney's cousin Sarah who came back home to school to hang out with us.

We actually took the time and relaxed while we were there. We went for a nice scenic drive and hung out at the house. I woke up early and left the house about 6AM to drive to Grand Rapids; which is about an hour away. There were about 1800 people running. I took it really slow and ran well for the lack of training. I came back to their house about noon and we watched the bears play. It was one of the most stress-free weekends I have had in a while. Monday was spent cleaning and doing yardwork.


Getting bundled up to go out

Many people have asked me why I run. I do not have a really good answer, like I said, I would rather do most things than run. I like to exercise, but my body is not the Kenyan marathon type. If you ever saw me run, you would be worried. The problem is that I like to eat and drink. We make the same mistake every year and buy 2-4 bags of Halloween candy around the middle of September and then graze constantly. Being home on Monday we (I need to drag C down too even though it is 98% me) finished off the last of the goods so I had to run to the store and buy more. Granted, we get maybe 3-5 trick-or-treaters, we always have the hope that we will be deluged. When they come to the door we overfill their bags with treats like they are our own dysfunctional kids. I run so I can do these things, especially with Xmas around the corner and I need to put on a blubber layer for the Winter.

There are two schools of thought on the whole candy thing:

C: "Oh, you are so cute. That is a precious little ladybug. Here is one for you."
K:"I paid $5 for this little bag of individually wrapped M&Ms...so...Dance Monkey!"

Seriously, what happened to the joke telling? You need to work for it. Just because you slapped on some eyeliner, put on a black turtleneck and called yourself the emo Grimdoesn'ter doesn’t mean I need to give you the goods. You need to work it. If it wasn't for Courtney I would turn kids away because their costumes just are not good enough. Come on, wearing your weekend football uniform does not earn you candy. I would give some kid all the candy in the house (except the secret stash) if he/she came dressed as something original and told an off-color joke or at least one with a few expletives in it


This is from C's Aunt's surprise birthday party that was at a Greek restaurant. That is not a stripper in training, it is a belly dancer. Maya castanets castinets. C is on the right.

Sorry. End of rant. Maya is going to be a witch this year. A good dainty witch with a sweet little hat and a little plastic cauldron for candy. No warts. No fake nose. No eye of Newt. We do have our 6-month report back to China coming up and we need to send pictures to our social worker, I wonder what they would think of our sweet little girl dressed up like a guardian to the gates of hell. Witches can be good right? I guess they can be if they have matching black tights, cute little shoes and an angelic disposition. More tomorrow.