Thankful for the end of November!

Grandkids just make everything wonderful!

Well Thanksgiving came & went. It was the usual full house, full of people & the kitchen counters were full of food! For this I am still very thankful! It always takes my breath a little for that one little moment when I realize that everybody I love is right there!  This year though we were missing a few. But maybe next year, we will all be together!

Lots of stuff going on up to end up November! Work, ballgames, busy, busy, busy! We had two of our grandaughters stay with us. They were already out of school for the Thanksgiving Holiday and a great chance to hang out Grandmary & PawPaw for the rest of the week!

Roll Tide Mickey!

Basically everyone in Alabama just holds their breath for the last week of November waiting for the Iron Bowl...the match up between rivalry schools Auburn University &  the University of Alabama!  It was a shut out, stomp down this year Alabama 49-Auburn-0. Roll Tide! The following weekend, Alabama went on to beat Georgia  32-28 in a heart stopping 60 minute Dawg fight! Probably the best SEC Championship Game in the history of football!  Again, Roll Tide! SEC Champions!  Next stop is Miami, January 7, 2013 for the National Championship Game! They take on Notre Dame for the title! Sorry Irish, but you are going down!


Back to Novemeber.....we watched Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV & decided to take off to Nashville, TN for a quick impulsive day trip! We left first thing Friday morning, with one granddaughter with us! Our day started with lunch at the Wild Horse Saloon & ended with the Radio City Spectacular! The Rockettes!  It was fabulous!

Lunch in Nashville with Emilee

At the Grand Ole Opry House. We bought the Souvenier Christmas Ornament! Love the Rockettes!

I ended my weekend with running! Still training for the Goofy Challenge. I'll have to do an update post about that. 9 miles on Sunday, 18 on Monday!

Back to work for a few days, then two birthdays to celebrate! Who ever thought I would have a 40 year old daughter? Wow! that's about all I can say about that! Wow!  November 30, we celebrated my husbands 63rd birthday!

Happy Birthday you two!

So November is over and I'm happy to say I'm thankful. I'm also very sad about a few things, but in the big picture of my world, I'm just gonna be thankful that I'm as blessed as I am! Things always have a way of working out just like they are supposed to! Sadness and all I'm thankful to be moving right on into December!  xoxo Peace, Love & Grandmary

Getting ready to be Thankful

Thanksgiving Dinner. A very long time ago, I moved Thanksgiving Dinner to the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I can't even remember when!  I'm a nurse and sometimes had to work on the 4th Thursday in November. Just another day in the hospital!

When our kids were little, school was out from Wednesday through Sunday, if I was off work for the long weekend, my husband Johnny would take the same days off work and we would take off to Disneyworld. It was a great time to travel. Disneyworld used to be kind of quiet back then!  They would have a few things already decorated for Christmas, not much, so it was a little bit of Christmas Magic too!

So it just made sense to change Thanksgiving Dinner to a different day! And it still happens. We have added in lots of extra people besides 'just us'! Of course, all the in-law kids and grandkids are here, along with a few neices & nephews & their families. A few of my husbands cousins come and my sisters and some of their kids & grandkids sometimes come.  Our max was over 40 people a few years ago when I added in a 60th birthday party & Retirement party to surprise Johnny!  This house was packed!

There is always food and plenty of it. Everybody brings something. I fix the usual Turkey & Dressing with all the trimmings; lots of veggies and the all time favorite Macaroni & Cheese.  I honestly think I could just cook two or three big glass dishes of Mac n cheese, add right out of the oven yeast rolls, a couple of pumpkin pies and ring the dinner bell!  

I really love this day! I love for my house to be full! I love that my kitchen is overflowing with food & fellowship! I love that for one day, when everyone and everything comes together, it has that 'one big happy family' kind of a feel to it!  And for that I am thankful.  xoxo Peace Love & Grandmary

A 4 mile run puts it in perspective

I rested 2 days from running. Work & Life mushed on.  4 miles were on my Goofy training schedule today. I ran nearly 2 miles before I finally took that deep breath & settled into the run! I guess you could say I"m a little stressed! But the 4 miles helped!

My devotional bible verse for yesterday was Ephesians 4:31-32. Basically, don't be angry, mad, hold grudges, etc. Be ye kind to one another.  I'm really struggling with that. With certain people.  I'm struggling with being so angry with my son.  For throwing his life away. I'm trying to be kind and understanding, but really, that part is not happening.

So for now, I'm glad I have a brutal training schedule. I'm pounding out all my emotions all over the pavement.  I'm hoping by the end of my long 18-20 miles, I'll have it all together!  and my dear son will too.

Amazing how time just flys by....

Amazing that 6 months just flys by! Everyday, on my list of things to do, is check on that blog! And everyday, I think, you have really got to get better at this.  Yes, really. Since May, summer has happened, life has happened, marathon training has happened. And now it's Fall. School is happening, life is still happening, marathon training is really happening!

The grandchildren are all back at school. What a blessing it is to have grandchildren. Mason is 17, and a senior. Wow! Everytime I see him on that football field, all big & burly, I think, I'm gonna really miss him next year on Friday nights when he's off at college. yes. college. Surely, I'm not old enough to have a Senior in High School grandson about to go to college! Really, I'm not. My daughter had him very young!  He is a joy of a grandson. Such a gentlemen. Such a nice young man. The rest of the 6 grandkids are just wonderful kids! I love that they all live close.

I'll have to post all of our summer trips! We are so fortunate to spend lots of time with our grandkids. We have always taken them with us on trips, but this past summer, we kept the roads hot! The beach, St. Louis, Memphis, Disneyworld, Gatlinburg, we were world travelers! Next summer they are trying to talk PawPaw into DisneyLAND or the Disney Cruise or Hawaii. I'm OK with any of those!  We'll see how far they get with that! I suggested Myrtle Beach, SC or the New England Coast for a week, since none of them have ever seen any seen any kind of beach sand except the white sugary stuff along Alabama's or Florida's Gulf Coast!  So, travel plans are definitely ON, just no clue on the destination yet!

Life has been a biggie lately. Lots of stuff going on with our son. Heartbreaking stuff.  It's hard to see him struggling and not able to break the cycle of self destruction. It doesn't make any sense. And it doesn't seem to have an ending.  At this point, all we can do is struggle through the heartbreak and pray. So that's what we are doing. Somedays are more difficult than others.  But God is faithful.  And I know this is just part of it.  Eccleisiastes 3:1 says it all. To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under the heavens.  I'm just waiting faithfully for the season to change.

Marathon training: one word. Brutal.  I'm training hard, but I'm behind. I say that, but I guess, in the big picture of life, I'm doing great. Simply because I am actively training. I've been sick a few times, emotionally shut down a few times, been in the ER, had a kidney stone, had to work, babysit grandkids, been gone...what else? But for the most part, every week, I have managed to get my miles in. There have been a few weeks the mile count was zero, but as of now, I'm on track, and working hard. My mileage count this week is at 23. Today was a back to back run. By that I mean, I did 6 miles yesterday, 13.1 today. I'm so sore right now, I can't hardly move, but by tomorrow I'll be fine and obsessed with running again! Thank God tomorrow is a rest day too!  That seems to make the obsession even stronger!

The Goofy Challenge is Jan 13, 2013. Here's how it goes. Saturday Half Marathon 13.1 miles, Sunday Marathon 26.2 miles. Yes....that really is Goofy to even consider such a challenge! But see....there are medals! A Donald for the Half, A NEW 20th Anniversary Mickey for the Marathon...did I mention it spins?! yes....spins! And a Goofy....for the Goofy Challenge! That's what I'm chasing! the bling, bling, bling!

Until next time...peace, love & Grandmary!

First 5K Casey's Cause

April 5, 2008. The first run! We registered for Casey's Cause and decided to run the 'downhills' and walk the rest! Johnny & I trained by walking around our neighborhood 2-3 times per week. We were excited about it! 

A little girl named Casey Grant was a patient at Childrens Hospital. She had Immune  Thrombocytopenia Purpura, a disorder in which the body destroys platelets and causes a bleeding disorder. Many cases are fatal. Casey's was. Her parents organized this run a year after her death. 

Chapman, Lindy and Alyssa were registered for the 1 mile fun run. Mason was registered for the 5K. I was nervous. I had no idea what to expect. I just hoped I could figure out where the finish line was!  If nothing else, I would enjoy watching my cute little grandchildren run!

We were pleased with our finish time! 50:52.  We had fun learning all about 5k's! We were impressed with our daughters Kristin, Brittney & son in law Scott. They were all such fast runners! And we had fun cheering our little grandkids to the finish line!  We even won a few door-prizes!  Fun times!

It all started with a grandson

He looked at me with those big brown puppy dog eyes and with that little crackle in his voice said "Grandmary, at your age, it would be good exercise for your health".  You just have to know Chapman. He thinks about things. It broke my heart a little that he thought I was old enough in his little mind to be 'at your age'!  It was April 2008, he was 9 years old.  The whole family was on a running binge; not me.  My twin sister Teri had somehow been talked into running the Peachtree 10K in Atlanta, GA with a co-worker. She was hooked and vocal about it. She came for a weekend visit and talked my youngest daughter Brittney into running the RedNose Run in Birmingham, AL with her. Soon after that, Brittney and her husband Scott and both boys Mason & Chapman were running 5K's, 1 mile fun run's every weekend! My oldest daughter Kristin joined in at some point. They were all hooked!  Teri told me on a daily basis that I needed to start running. I was quick to tell her, there was no way I was running anywhere! I liked sitting down. I really wasn't interested in any type of work outs. I liked things as they were.  Lazy!

Back to Chapman. He was always my little one. If I sat down, it wasn't very long, until he found his way to my lap!  We were all cuddled up one day and he was chattering non stop. He asked me if I would run with him next time. I took the easy grandmother way out and said, of course I will darlin. Just tell your mommy to sign me up. So if his mommy never signed me up, I was off the hook! Several weekends later, he asked me again. I seriously considered going to an event, to watch him and his brother, cheer them on and take pictures. When I found out I had to be there at 6am on a Saturday morning, I knew I wasn't going.  Poor Chappy. No grandparents in his chear section!

Over the next few months, it seemed as if everybody was running! Once again, Chapman asked me if I would please run with him.  Once again, I gave him valid reasons why I had no desire to be a runner. That's when he looked at me with those eyes and as sincerely as he could, he told me I really needed to exercise. "At your age Grandmary" I heard him. I heard his words, and I heard the sweet concern in his little voice.  So I said of course, I'll run with you. I promised. I just wanted to cross my heart hope to die, stick a needle in my eye promise. No turning back. At that very moment, I became a runner.  It was a life changing moment. I was committed.

In the next few days I registered myself and my husband for Casey's Cause 5K, which was scheduled 5-6 weeks away. Both daughters and their families were registered for this one.  Within the next few weeks, we all got our calendars out and planned a big family Disneyworld Vacation that included a 4 night Disney Cruise. Coincidentally that vacation just happened to be the same weekend as the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, January 2009! Both daughters & son in law's were planning to run. Imagine that! In the course of planning the trip, the whole family registered for the Animal Kingdom 5K, all 15 of us!  

So it started in April 2008. With Chapman! I was obsessed with running and hadn't run the first step! I had 9 months to train for my first Disney Run! 6 weeks to train for Casey's Cause! I had no idea how to train or what to expect. But I knew one thing for sure: I was a runner!

Goofy Challenge 2013

Run Disney! I can't believe it, but I'm registered! Registered for the Goofy Challenge! I've been waiting for 3 months for registration to open! There was a sneak preview kinda thing last week for anyone with a Disney Rewards Visa to register early. I was patient and decided to wait until the official registration date which was today at noon. This morning I woke up, poured a cup of coffee and thought about what time I would get on the Run Disney website to register, no hurry, it's not til January, next year, plenty of time. Then I  thought about how jammed the website would be with the entire universe trying to register for this event, and no doubt what a headache it would be trying to register with the website crashing every 5 seconds, oh my gosh, I'll never get in! It will fill up & close before the website is restored and then all this training and planning and dreaming of winning the Goofy Challenge and being showered with confetti while Minnie and Mickey jump around and cheer for me will be down the tubes. Instant Panic. There was only one thing to do! So I hit the panic button full force and scrolled through what seemed like zillions of Facebook posts, found the sneak preview link and registered before 7am!  OK. Done. Now, all I've got to do is train!  I love that it's called the Goofy Challenge. That just sounds crazy and fun and goofy! What's not to love about that?  The challenge is to run a half marathon on Saturday and run a full marathon on Sunday! in the same weekend. in Disneyworld, through all 4 Parks, with 20,000 or so other runners! Have you done the math? that's 13.1 & 26.2 miles! 39.3 total. and if you do the 5K on Friday, thats an extra 3.1 miles, for a total of 42.3! (Unofficially called the Dopey!) But really, who in their right mind would do that!  Well I haven't registered for the 5K. Not yet anyway!

and yes, Grandmary, you need to Blog

Really? how do you blog? why do you blog? and when in the world would I have time to blog?  The answers to those questions seem to be unlimited, so I guess, I just need to figure it all out and blog! Everybody else does! and now me too!  what in the world will I blog about? All things Grandmary, of course!