One of my favorite times of the day is when I sit next to the open window (the weather is turning to fall here, though sometimes it still feels a bit like a Washington summer!) and enjoy my breakfast, coffee, and a few words from a book or a magazine. Usually Mater ends up taking a nap next to me or on my lap, and this always warms my heart, as she has become increasingly diabolical in her chewing and playing at other times of the day! Anyway, this time is the rare time in the day when I haven't yet tried to "figure out" what I "have to do", and when the fresh air helps me wake up and reminds me to live in each minute as it comes. After several months of worrying about finding a job or getting our budget "right", I find I am enjoying my idle time and my daily tasks more and more. That being said, I look forward to hearing back soon about a potential job!
Last week, I started training for a half-marathon; I felt it was high time I take on another race as a goal, and have wanted to try 13.1 since last November when I ran my first 15k (=9.3 mi) in the Chicago Hot Chocolate Run. Unfortunately, I am prone to injury, whether simply due to my anatomical make-up or as a function of my sometimes hard-headedness when it comes to moderation in "amping up" frequency and distance in training/running. Either way, this morning I am resting a tweaked hamstring after trying out a new stretch/strength circuit yesterday: I believe the culprit was actually the very first exercise, the jumping heel-kicks. Fun, but as my mom pointed out to me last night on the phone, perhaps a bit challenging at first for a person of my level of coordination. (Read = In her ballerina mind, I am a bit of a "spazz" when it comes to such things...especially when trying them for the first time!) So I am trying to not worry and to focus on icing and elevating/resting it today. The half-marathons I am considering are in January and March, and while my goal is January, I know that I need to be open to either date due to things like my current predicament!
Enough about running and racing. Last weekend, we met up with three couples at a local Oktoberfest on the base. While much of the activities were geared towards kids, it was a great atmosphere and several of the "German food" booths were actually staffed by native Germans. My goddaughter and her brother had a fun time (although Joshua was playing a video game most of the time!) and it is always so good to see Jasmine, since she is growing up so fast! She's walking now, and all the boys seem to like her even at one year and change... Jon is already making playful threats...to two year olds. Ha. My guess is, in about twelve years they won't be quite as playful :-) We spend a lot of time watching the bands they had playing, who were both pretty fun. I don't think they were particularly impressed by the crowd's distractedness, since Oktoberfest in Deutschland is certainly known for its boistrous enthusiasm for toasts and drinking songs. There were so many kids around everyone couldn't really focus like they would have needed to pick up on this. Either way, we had a great time, and topped it off with a hay ride around the campgrounds.
Some photos:
In the tent where the bands were, with Margie, Katie, and Jazz squirming in my lap.
It was cold in the shade!
With our friends the Estradas and Blanchard on the far left. (on the hay ride)
The Pratt's and the Miles' on the hay ride.
Michael has been enjoying his new unit, though he's still worked several long days and was gone for a week in the field. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and the arrival of more fall weather. We plan to spend Turkey Day with the Pratt's, possibly even making a little getaway of it so that we can cook the turkey and the pies at their house. While it's sometimes hard to get together often, we are indeed blessed by some wonderful friends here in Georgia!
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