Lullabies to Teddi Marie

Polka Dots and Moonbeams

A pug nose dream

…when you awake, we'll patty patty cake,
and ride the silver little pony.

Winkin, Blinkin and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe….

…when I am old enough,
I'll be a clown.

Way down in Killarney, many years ago,
My mother sang a song to me….

Hush little Teddi, don't say a word,
Grandma's going to buy you a mockingbird….

Sleep in my arms while you still can,
Childhood is but a day….

There were many more, songs I grew up with, songs I remember hearing just before I drifted off to sleep as a little girl.  Because both of Teddi's parents are sailors, and because this was one of my favorite lullabies, here are all the words to this one:

Teddi's boat the silver moon,
Sailing in the sky.
Sailing o'er the sea of sleep
As the clouds roll by.

Sail, Teddi, sail
Out upon that sea.
Only don't forget to sail
Back again to me.

Welcome to the world, dear little one.

<3

Some Awesome Stuff (But This Isn't It)

I have been traveling like crazy, and I have some really amazing stories to tell  but they deserve more thought than this post is going to get (and will be written when I can do my newest great-granddaughter justice).  This post is about my last half marathon of the year, The Happy Dirty Girls Trail Half in Sisters, Oregon earlier today.

First - I had near crippling self doubt yesterday, and nightmares all night long.  That nasty little idiot voice saying things like "I can't believe you're going to do a 13.1 trail run in the rain [actually snow was predicted] when you can barely keep your footing on a road."  And "If you get lost up on that trail, you can die."  And other such negative self talk.  I hate that nasty little idiot, and if anyone has tips on how to kill it, please do let me know.

Then, nightmares.  All.  Night.  Long.  If I got four hours of sleep, it was a miracle.  I forgot my Garmin (yeah, a big deal).  I got lost (and died on the trail).  I slipped on the wet rocks and broke my neck (good thing I bought that air lift helicopter coverage).

And this wasn't even my first half!!

So I got up at pitch black darkness, and drove the 30 minutes in the rain to Sisters.  I parked about 3/4 a mile away from the shuttle to the top (and the finish line) in a hazy drizzle, and forced myself onto the first shuttle to the top to keep myself from going back to my car and driving back to my warm, sweet home.

The walk to the shuttle bus - wet feet before I even started, wah.

On the shuttle with 40 of my dearest friends.

Waiting around at the top for an HOUR
just because I didn't trust myself to wait for a later shuttle.

The other 300 arrive at the starting line.

Only two Handsome Pacers this race, for
the fast ones.

It was rocky.  I didn't dare run over some patches of slippery rocks (but I only face planted once -yay! - although I kicked two dozen rocks and thought I was going down), and I took foreeeeeeever to finish, but finish I did (and got a dumb belt buckle for my trouble) and who was there at the finish hanging around?  Members of my training group from Footzone!  Whudathunk?

Don't let them fool you - both these ladies finished
way ahead of me!

Things I learned:
(1)  Bring dry clothes to change into at the end of the race on a rainy day (thanks, Angela Shatting).
(2)  My legs can get tired even running downhill.  When it's raining and cold and windy.
(3)  Just because I take my rain jacket off at mile two doesn't mean I won't need it at mile ten when the rain picks up and the wind blows.  Thank goodness I didn't check it in my gear bag and just tied it around my waist.
(4)  UGG slippers are worth every penny.
(5)  Maybe my distance isn't the half marathon, but the 10K.

Wallowa Lake and Chief Joseph

Sitting here in the Delta Sky Club at PDX, knowing I still have a full day of flying before me, I thought it would do my spirit good to post about our recent camping trip to Wallowa Lake in Joseph, Oregon (where I could actually go outside whenever I felt like it and walk around).

Nigel is a seasoned traveler,

but this was Schazi's first road trip of any duration.
She was a real trouper.

Gorgeous mountains around the lake.

A little baby crochet to pass the afternoon.

For a pup who has been raised with a doggy door
and the freedom to go in and out as she pleased,
Schazi did really well in the fifth wheel.
Not one accident, woo!

It didn't take her long to get into our afternoon routine.

Imnaha is where Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce band would
spend the winter.

Looks kind of like Jarbidge or the Rubies in Nevada, right?

We drove past this barn half a dozen times - I had to have a
picture.  Look at that sky!

We were almost too late for the fall color.

Here's what I don't get.  All he wanted was to lead his band
into Canada, so as not to be forced onto a reservation
far from Wallowa, his home.  But, nooooo, the
U.S. Army had to chase them to within 30 miles
of the Canadian border before forcing a surrender.

Deer, deer, everywhere.  Small but big racks.

Wake up cuddle

Snooze

Chief Joseph's father is buried near Wallowa Lake

Here's his monument.  Meanwhile, Chief Joseph is buried
in Washington state, far from home.

Read up on the Nez Perce "war" of the late 1800's - I plan to learn more myself.

Running Saturdays

Since I started running last July, I've run loads of 5Ks and two half marathons.  My third half is on trails outside Sisters, so I thought it would be a good idea to join up with a training group, for support, accountability and just plain fun.  So I did - Footzone's Half Marathon Training Group.

Our first training run was on the First Street rapids trail in downtown Bend - I didn't even know the trail was there.  It was a five miler, out and back and just beautiful.  Someday I'll go back and get some pics.  I missed the second run for Sister and BIL #2's visit and pheasant hunt (read all about it here), and the third run was a 7 miler on trails at Shevlin Park, also in Bend, and also a trail I had never been on.  Once again, I didn't want to slow down to take pics, but our fearless leader got this one of my behind at some point on the trail:

Does this trail make my butt look big?

And I was so remarkably slow, I thought I'd pose like Usain Bolt does after he is remarkably fast.

 That trail was tough and I managed to get a little lost, but still, it was just beautiful.

The following week was 9 miles at Meadow Camp.  Now, I've run 9 miles before.  Several times.  While it was cool and drizzly, I was in no way doubting my ability to run 9 miles on a trail, out and back, along the beautiful Deschutes River.

See how confident I look on the far right?

Well.  That was the longest 9 miles of my life.  Up, and up, and up.  Then up some more.  I just wasn't feeling it, and I not only slowed down to take some pictures, I actually stopped more than once.

My mentor, Lisa, took this, probably while I was doubled over, gasping on the trail.

This one, too.  My glacial pace gave her plenty of photo ops.

 I'm not sure why that run felt so hard - it was the first time in a very long time that I just wanted to quit.  I even told Lisa to go ahead and leave me, that I was sure I had signed some kind of release that would get her and Footzone off the hook if I perished out there.  She went on ahead, but was never out of sight.  I really like her.

There's Lisa in the neon vest.

A little further up the trail. 

The upshot of that run was I think I ran my last half marathon (13.1 miles) fifteen minutes faster than I did this nine.  It was disgusting.

So today's run was supposed to be 11 miles from Farewell Bend park to Meadow Camp and back.  After last week's performance, I decided to go ahead and run the Run or Dye 5K which I had registered for months ago, and run the course 4 times to get in 12 miles.  It was out at the fairgrounds, so how hilly could it be, right?

Well, I was a little unprepared for the free for all that ensued.  Five Ks are supposed to be fun, and this was no exception.

Me before, nice and clean.

Headed to the start with 500 or so of my best buds.

I am always surprised in 5Ks at how few people actually run.
Not surprised about these two, tho - those suits would
make it a challenge.

Me and my new friend Beth, whom
I met at the starting line, after the "race".

Getting ready for the Dye Toss...

My favorite Brothers not named Widmer.

Me after.

 Needless to say, I didn't run the course four times.    I may or  may not go out this afternoon for 9 more miles, after I get my lifting in for the day, but I'm not going to stress about it.  When running stops being fun, I'll probably stop doing it so I don't want that to happen any time soon.  Even though my next half is only 4 weeks away, I'm not going to worry so much about my fitness level, because I know I can do it.  I mean when you think about it, I started training for my first half in March, and it's been an ongoing thing ever since - my year spent training!

And my legs STILL don't look like this.

So the Run or Dye was fun, but I shouldn't have counted on it as a real run, what with dodging the baby carriages, walkers in tutus, and spectators on the course.  Live and learn.  And while the folks pelting us with dye were generally pretty mild, the last zone, Yellow, got me good on the side of the head - I think I'll be pulling yellow dye out of my right ear for a few weeks!

What it felt like.

What it was.