Lovin' these LONG summer days!

Newton Dam

My brother was in from Texas for his MIL's funeral. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him due to the circumstances but we did have a few hours at the reservoir.

My cute Texan nephew, Jack. Isn't he adorable!


Another cute nephew! Aren't 3 year olds fun???



Grandma with my littlest niece.




Niece, Celie, also from TX. She is just a couple months younger than Crew.

Crew, blowing kisses! He loved the wave runners. Loved it, loved it, loved it!

Grandpa, just a week after knee surgery. Crazy guy!

Beautiful, youngest sister Dar!

H, looking so grown up! He sure knows how to have fun and loves playing with all those cousins. We missed S this week as he was away at scout camp for 6 days!!! He had a good time and earned 5 merit badges.

Summer is going by way to fast!

In my Garden (June 2009)

This month has been filled with a lot of cloudy skies and RAIN! The sunny days have been far and few between which has been a little disappointing for me. I live for this time of year! Fortunately, the rain has produced some beauties for us to enjoy. Long live the summer;)

If you're interested

Since I started running more I realized that the one thing I like ALMOST as much as running is talking about it or reading about others experiences. This can be particularly annoying to a lot of people. Consequently, I've decided I'm going to keep the content of this blog "Mels Thoughts", geared more towards the happenings of our little family.

If you so desire to follow my running journey you will want to bookmark this link:

Comments are always welcome!

AIR SHOW

I'm a little slow getting this post up... We were lucky enough to enjoy the HAFB Air Show the day before it was available to the public. Crew's school was invited for disability day. We met at the local high school where we were to board the buses and ride onto base. However, because of his wheelchair they let us drive onto the base and right up to the flight line (we were accompanied by a very nice military guy). What a blessing it was to have our vehicle with us! Crew was TERRIFIED right from the start. Even with the ear plugs, hands over his ears and a blanket over his head he was still quite hysterical for at least an hour. We were able to sit in the van and calm him down. It rained off and on and so once again having our van with us was a huge benefit.
The rest of us thoroughly enjoyed the show. We haven't taken S since he was ONE which means H has never been to an air show before.

Funny thing is we had a miscommunication about the starting time. We arrived 4 hours early. Doh. We used Carl's base pass to kill time at the batting cages and some racquetball too. Oh man, was a I sore afterward!

Seize the Day

The neighbor boy brought over this awesome sprinkler! Come to find out, they are Super hard to find and because of supply and demand they run about $250 on ebay. Go figure!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Oh, To Run

The last couple weeks I've really struggled with my training. My right knee has been bothering me... Iliotibial Band Syndrome, I believe. I hobbled through the half marathon... it wasn't too bad. I just took it slow and enjoyed the scenery.

Over the past month, I've seen a sports dr./chiropractor 4 or 5 times. I've stretched, rolled and iced twice a day. I've also been applying something called Volatrol Gel which is like putting Ibuprofen right on the spot. Monday's run was very discouraging. I was in pain nearly the entire 5 miles. Carl has me taking Glutamine for muscle recovery and TriFlex Sport which supports joint mobility and helps rebuild cartilage (I copied that right from the bottle... I'm so smart).








At the race expo I learned how to tape my knee with the Kinesio tape. I'm a firm believer in the KT tape. We used it for several years on Crew to facilitate muscles in his hands and arms. I saw good results. For sports injuries you can also use the tape to relax the muscle. The difference is in how you apply the tape. Crew's PT spent some time with me last week showing me how to tape common running injuries.

Tonight before my run, I taped my knee. I ran 3.5 miles of hills with NO PAIN. It was very exhilarating to be out there running pain free for the first time in weeks. I could feel that my knee isn't 100% healed but it felt so so much better than earlier this week and I could run!

3.5 miles/30 minutes/8:44 average pace

I can live with that!

CREATE

When it comes to blogging, I love reading the crafty blogs. I'm a serious lurker! I always want to try something new but my life just doesn't seem to allow it...
I feel overwhelmed most of the time and starting any project of significance just doesn't seem possible. I was looking around at my house thinking I haven't done anything creative in like FOREVER. To my left and through an open door I saw this wall! Yes, yes, yes, I AM creative!
About a month ago my sisters came and took care of my children while I painted. This wall turned out great! I LOVE IT! I used 3 shades of blue and 2 shades of brown. Now, if I could just purchase the blinds:)

Confession

Sometimes I feed Crew his dinner while he is in the bathtub... because on that particular day, it may be the only distraction that works. the end.