RUN LIKE HELL!

That's exactly what TJ and his sister did.

Three weeks ago, we drove to Portland with TJ's sister and her husband for the RUN LIKE HELL half-marathon. We planned a little extra time into our trip to do a little mini-tour of Portland... but I'll talk about that some other time.

What was so fun about this race, was that it was halloween themed. And what do you get when you mix halloween with a race? Entertainment! I could not believe the crazy outfits people wore. And not only wore, but RAN in! I saw batman, superman, mario, cavemen, numerous guys dressed as girls, guys wearing suits, wonder woman, nurses, prom queens, gorillas, care bears... you name it, people ran in it.

My personal favorite had to be the guy dressed as Fred Flinstone. HE RAN BARE FOOTED! And he was pulling his two kids in one of those kids bicycle trailers that he strapped around his chest. Can you imagine running 13.1 miles like that???? Here's a picture to prove it...

But I digress. Back to TJ and his sister. They both did AMAZING! Their times were well under 2 hours and they both finished strong. We hope to be able to go again next year, and get my little niece in the kids 'Run Like Heck 1/2 mile Run'. And who knows, maybe I'll do a little running too...

Here they are before the race. Yes, it was that dark!

TJ- running strong to the finish

After the race!

my new friend

I have lived in Spokane for just over a year now. In 2 weeks I'll have been at my job for a year. And today, I made my very first Spokane friend.

And she's seven.

Okay, so maybe she's not my very first Spokane friend, but she's the first one to invite me over to her house!

It was really quite wonderful.

I don't know what it is, but I always seem to hit it off with kids, elderly, and developmentally disabled. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, (I think they are some of the most beautiful people), but sometimes I wish I could connect better with people my own age. And the job I have now certainly isn't helping. I tend to forget how to have normal adult conversations when I spend all day talking about hermit crabs and poop, and communicating at a 5-year old level.

Sometimes I wonder if it's because of my own insecurities and fear of being known. I feel like I can be myself around those people and they won't judge me. They don't care if my grammar is bad, or if my shoes don't match my clothes, or whether or not I have all my ducks in a row. I guess I feel safe.

So now all I need to do is get over myself and not care so much about what others think. Easy, right? Then I'll make some grown up friends. And it probably wouldn't hurt if I read some books with big words and tried to expand my vocabulary...

comfort music

It's kind of like comfort food...but minus the calories.

To me, comfort music is what I listen to when I just need something familiar during a time of change. It's music that I don't have to think about. It's music that I never seem to get tired of, even if I put it away for a season. And the sound of it usually brings me back to a different time in my life. Today, I need some comfort music.

So I think I'm going to pull out Enter the Worship Circle - Chair and Microphone I and III, make myself some tea, finish baking a couple of cakes, and head over to the JW coffee shop for some good conversation and knitting.

What's your comfort music?