End of Summer

It's September already (and my hubby's birthday as I write this)!  I can hardly believe how fast time has flown since we moved to Oregon.

Lately, I visited the Little Woody Festival (continuing my beer-drinking theme from last post)

I loved these tokens with the gnomes - one said "Little is Gnome of Me" and I kept it.

but the husband was unhappy because the minimum number of tokens for a taste of wood barrel-finished brew was two, and one tent went as high as five.  Cue the creative cursing only my old man can do.  If he had been to Brewfest with me, he could have had tastes for ONE token....

Our granddaughter Megan made us a wonderful "E" from the corks she and I collected from our Grandma/Granddaughter trip to Napa, which I put in a window box upstairs in the bar area:

I made a trip to Hood River for the freshest of fresh fruits,

and canned some wonderful things from these new-to-me books:

Then of course, was my half-marathon for which I was so woefully unprepared, I almost didn't show up.    With some encouragement from my buds, though, I showed, figuring if I had to I could walk the damned thing within the time limits.  Besides, this was the site of my very first 5K and it's just beautiful there in Sunriver.

Now, for races I have only two criteria:  (1)  finish, and (2) not last.  Not difficult, right?  Imagine my surprise when I showed up to the starting line and saw so few people running the half:

Seriously?  My only thought was, okay, well, coming in last in this small a group is a real possibility!

Fortunately, tho, I didn't (close, but not last) and managed to finish in plenty of time to see the female marathon winner cross the finish line.

No, this is me, not her.

There was a lady near my left shoulder for the first seven miles, and she moved up next to me when I started to slow down.  She told me I was her unofficial pacer, and I let her know that I promised myself a short walking break after seven miles, so she could be my pacer thereafter!  She was great company, and I send my out my thanks, whoever she is and wherever she may be.

Turns out I finished fifth in my age group, ha!  Looking at how thin I was at the 5K last year, I have GOT to get some weight off - it simply has to make the racing easier.  Maybe I'll pass on the post-race brew next time....  Nah.

I'm ready for the cooler days, a little weather and the beautiful fall here in Central Oregon!