Finished!

Hooray! I finished my second marathon today! It was a blast and I really enjoyed every minute of it. Well, almost - the hill at mile 26 was not my friend. I finally gave up on caring about my time - best move ever! In fact, since I had been sick and wondered how I would feel, I didn't even wear my watch. So, I just ran a comfortable pace and really enjoyed the views. I'll have a few funny stories to share afterwards. I've decided to have a positive outlook on my race time - it's simple a new PR (personal record - that's running slang - makes me look cool, don't you think?). It's just that this PR is for my SLOWEST time ever - five and half hours. I don't care though, because I really had fun and it was a gorgeous day. We're off to meet a friend and ride the ferry. Must keep moving some so I don't sieze up - my quads are super mad at me right now!

Hanging out the day before the race

Just a few shots from the day:

Walking at Seward Park...

Chilin' at Pioneer Square (I think we are getting better at taking photos of ourselves!)

oh...and it's the money you could be saving with Geico...staring at us from across the way.

Headin' to Seattle

After escaping the strange stomach illness that swept through the Felker/Garis household like an angry tornado, Aaron and I recovered and had uneventful trip to Seattle. He is feeling fine, I'm slowly getting back up to speed. We have no idea where the "bug" came from (had to explain to Ridge that when we said it must be a 'little bug' that we weren't actually referring to a critter with legs), and Ridge seems to be the only one who escaped the 24-hour unhappiness. I'm crossing my fingers that a little more rest will put me right and I'll be able to run on Saturday without any trouble.

After arriving in Seattle, Aaron and I somewhat successfully navigated public transportation (a novelty to us Texas, I know) and made our way to our hotel. I say "somewhat" because, while we managed to get to our final destination safely, we didn't do it together. At my confused urging, Aaron and I moved to get off the bus, but I wasn't fast enough and the bus left. My last image was of Aaron banging on the window, standing on the roadside with the suitcase (though, of course, my running clothes never left my hands). The other folks on the bus were kindly shocked. One young boy asked me, "was that your boyfriend?" I smiled, said he was my husband, and he became even more upset on my behalf. "You should complain!" he exclaimed. I was grateful for the sympathy of the other passengers because it made me feel a little less stupid. We navigated Japan for two years - surely we could handle Seattle for three days!

Fortunately, we were shortly reunited at the next bus stop, which turned out to be the correct one, and quickly located the hotel. The remainder of the afternoon was spent poking around the South Downtown area and enjoying the Seattle Aquarium. Tomorrow we will go out for an early jaunt to the Seward Park, which reportedly consists of old growth forest in the heart of the city. My plan is to go for a final, short run and enjoy the views. Afterwards Aaron will check out a local Brazilian Jiu Jistu school while I go to the expo. Here's a few shots from today of the Aquarium and our fantastic view of Safeco Field. Too bad we aren't baseball fans.

Nemo and Dori say "hi"

Aaron measures up next to a six-gilled shark...

...and Michelle gets mauled by an octopus..

..but not the real one, thank goodness. I wouldn't want this bad boy to get mad at me! You can't tell from the photo, but it's head/body is about 3 ft from top to bottom.

The Long Awaited Tree House

It's been non-stop excitement here at the Felker/Garis house. Summer vacation is in full swing, no doubt about it. Ridge is thrilled to be attending his Junior Naturalist camp at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. Each day they seem to be using solar ovens they made to cook afternoon snack. Yesterday it was S'mores, today was gooey trail mix, and tomorrow will be pizza. He is so amazingly excited!

While Ridge is at camp, Holt and I have been getting in some quality Holt-Mommy time. This morning we bonded while pulling nails from old wood. He was quite the hard worker. Tomorrow we will go see a movie and then go the the rarely visited but often requested Incredible Pizza. He is thrilled. I'm thrilled to not spend another morning pulling nails!

On Saturday, Dad and I will make a showing at a local 1/2 marathon relay with quite possibly the most eclectic group out there. Two men - both dad's age, me (late 30's), and my running bud (mid 20's). Should be a blast. Later in the evening, my running friends will be giving me my official "send off for the Seattle Marathon. Aaron and I leave next Thursday, and I'll be running my second marathon on the 27th!

Marathons, summer camp, and Incredible Pizza, however, all pale in comparison to the most recent construction project: the Long Awaited Tree House. Last Sunday saw us completing stage one: tearing apart the front deck (it needed to go, anyway) so we can use the wood, dig through rock to make four post holes, and construct the base for the platform. The night before we began, Ridge nagged Grandpa about what time would he (my dad) be ready to get up and work. Ridge informed Dad that he would be up at five if that's what Grandpa wanted. It wasn't.

The boys both toiled with us as we worked through the day. They have already begun to play on it, even though it's only a framework. It promises to be provide hours of endless fun, I believe.

Michael's Birthday Cake

Even though we were told not to make a big deal out of Michael's 40th birthday (ha...lots of luck with that)...I couldn't resist the excuse to make a cake. I'd been dying to play with a funky cake pan my mom has, and here is the result. Just don't ask me how long it took. It was fun, so it doesn't matter.

Pool Party

As a consolation for not having big birthday parties, Ridge and Holt have a pool party to celebrate the end of school and beginning of summer vacation. It's pretty low key, with a few friends, cupcakes, and a pinata.

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

A couple of Holt's kidisms:
After Mom gave someone a card which sings the tune "Age of Aquarius," Holt could be heard walking around the house singing to himself, "...the Age of Aquarium, age of aquarium, aquariuuuuuum..."

As he is throwing something across the pool: "Fire and a Hole!!"

Upon being told his mask was on upside down, he crossed his eyes to see they nose bit of his swimming mask was indeed on his forehead, he proclaimed, "Oh, of course, now everything in the pool looks upside down!"

Moving on to Ridge:
As we prepared to leave for a movie, Holt gathered some of his allowance money with which to buy a soda. Ridge declined to take his money, so Holt offered to buy him a drink. Ridge responded, "No thanks, cause I don't really want one anyway, and I don't want you to waste your money. That's really generous of you to offer though, and you are a really thoughtful little brother even if sometimes I don't want you."

Ridge: Mommy, did you hear there was a 16 year old girl who had a baby?
Me: oh, really?
Ridge: Yeah, and she wasn't even married!!
Me: Well, you don't have to be married to have a baby.
Ridge: (incredulous) Really?!?!
Me: Uh...yeah. Bears aren't married. Chickens aren't married. They have babies.
Ridge: Yeah, but I was just thinking about wondering why the baby came out so early.

At this point in the conversation, we arrived at our destination and I could aviod the rest of the topic. Eeek. Why do they have to grow up?

Teaching English in Japan

In response to an inquiry regarding teaching English overseas: here's a link which might be of use to you.

http://www.jetprogramme.org/