Update

I've neglected my blog...and it really makes me sad. So, to get back into the swing of things, here are some things that have happened since I last posted:

My sweet Grandmother was able to return home after a long stay in the hospital. I am so thankful.........


This was the last time Greta had to be on a leash in our backyard. We finally got it fenced in!! Sure she looks happy in these pictures...but you should see her now that she is "free".



Our friends Brandon and Alice have one of the most adorable baby boys on the planet. Try and argue with me on this...you won't win. Jonah turned one on May 28th. He was pretty excited. :)



My cousin, Luke, graduated as valedictorian (from the same high school I attended). I was so happy I could be there to hear his speech & tell him I am so proud of him.



I think I took this in early June..our friend, Brandon, and his son ,Jonah, hanging out in our newly fenced backyard. I love this picture!



I was able to spend a week with my family in June. My brother (Jacob), his wife (Lindsay) and my adorable niece (Helen)came to my parents' house in Brewton, AL. It was so amazing to be with them all for an extended period of time. Usually we only get short weekends together.

"Pawpaw" showing Helen a sunflower:


Jacob & his gorgeous blue-eyed daughter:


Helen & I enjoying the hammock underneath the house:


During the course of the week, several of my parents' friends from college came down. They spent the night playing bluegrass together. This is my dad on the dobro & Fran on the upright bass.


Took a group of friends down to my parents' house for a kayak trip the weekend after my birthday. I'm pretty sure that it will remain in my mind one of the best weekends of 2009.



Watched July 4th fireworks with some of our closest friends & I took the best self-portrait picture of the two of us ever.




So, what's new with you???

Therapeutic weekend

I had jaw surgery on March 25th to repair a displaced disc on the right side of my jaw. It was an outpatient, arthroscopic procedure..and the healing time is far shorter than more invasive forms of jaw surgery. Nevertheless, it was a difficult thing for me to deal with. I have a severe fear of any medical procedure, especially when it involves IV's, preliminary bloodwork, etc. So, I was nervous about this ordeal long before it was scheduled. The day of the surgery I was a pile of nerves. Once they got the IV in and had me full of drugs, the rest of the day (and a few days after) was blurry. Barely eating while taking pain killers and muscle relaxers is not a winning combination. Also, I do not have a loving relationship with the nurse who made me do rehab exercises 30 min after surgery. I was all "look lady, I just had jaw surgery...no I do NOT feel like opening my mouth 30mm and holding for 10 secs" (10 times....every hour...for a week...)

I'm getting off track. The point is that this past weekend was the turning point. The point where I finally started feeling like it was going to be ok. The swelling had gone down. I could move my mouth more. I was able to eat a little bit more than I had been.

I think one of the main reasons I started feeling so much better was that my brother, his wife & my 11 month old niece flew in for the weekend...and my parents also drove up for a day. There are few things in life that are better than kissing a baby's cheek.



Mom got mad at me after looking at the above picture. She was scolding me for opening my mouth that far...I say laughing with my niece is worth it.

Another awesome thing that happened last weekend: John made us chicken tortilla soup. Here I am, tying up the apron strings for him. We're non-traditional like that.



And, to wrap things up...on Sunday, John was playing in the floor with Helen...and out of nowhere, she crawled over to him, put her head on his shoulder & wrapped her arms around his arm to hug him. You could hear everyone's heart melting a little bit from the cuteness. I think it's pretty clear she loves her Uncle John.

The first of many, hopefully

The 5k this weekend was incredible. It set a new record for the most participants in a sporting even in Pensacola's history! I read in the paper the next day that there were 9,441 that participated. The atmosphere was great. Everyone was wearing green, numerous people raced in costume. There was a cow, a guy in a green dress, several people in kilts, some fairies, etc. There were also a few "geez he/she should NOT be wearing THAT...." but let's hope they knew that and were just trying to be ironic...

My cousin, Sarah, ran with me. Here we are beforehand.


Getting our timing chips on. (Please ignore how extremely pale my legs are.....)




There were over 3,000 military participants from the Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force. They ran in formation the entire time. It was super impressive. They waited for a few minutes after the gun went off and let everyone else clear out of the starting area. Then, they started running after us..chanting. It was pretty motivating to keep going, and also extremely intimidating.

About 1/2 mile into it, Sarah found a friend that she wanted to run with. They were running slightly faster than me. I told her to go on ahead. After that, I was on my own. A little over half way through, my calf starting hurting pretty bad, so I stopped for a few seconds to stretch it. At that point, the military troops were close behind me. I decided to try and keep pace with them. I kept up with them until they upped their pace. I still managed to make it to the finish line with a better time than I had anticipated. I loved finishing the race to the sound of the McGuire's bagpipe band.




Sarah finished in 31:12.62 and I finished in 35:00.85. Afterwards they had Irish Wakes, beef stew, etc. We stayed for a few minutes, and then headed to the beach to relax. The rain held off until we sat down for lunch later in the afternoon. Perfect timing!

I'm definitely going to run this race every year. Let me know if you want in for 2010.

McGuire's 5k

Tomorrow I run a 5k.

I haven’t run any sort of race since high school. I played a lot of sports in high school (believe it or not), and my absolute favorite was track and field. I LOVED IT. And, not to brag, but I was really good at it. My best race was the 400m, but I did other events depending on what the team needed or what my coach assigned me to for any given track meet. I ran 200m, 100m, 4x400m relay, 4x100m and did high jump, triple jump and long jump. During any track meet, an individual could do a total of 5 events. If I had my pick, I would have chosen the 100m, 400m, 4x400m, long jump and high jump. (Man this is getting nerdy and I’m sure no one cares……) If my coach was upset with me for slacking during practice, he would threaten to make me run the 2 mile for the next meet. He only followed through with that threat once, and it was horrendous.

Anyway, my point is that I was always a sprinter and a jumper. Long distance makes me want to die. At least, it has in the past. But, I’ve slowly been working up to a 3 mile distance since January….and I’ve come to really enjoy it. The feeling after running is the best part. I always loved laying in the grass after a particularly hard track practice and just being completely and utterly worn out. There’s something wonderful about it….I can’t explain it. It’s been nice to have that feeling again.

So, tomorrow I run my 5k, and I have that familiar nervous feeling I got before each and every race years ago. If you knew me then, you’d probably remember…I was known to feel really sick, especially before big meets like state finals. Hopefully it goes away and I’m able to just enjoy it. After all, it’s just about finishing tomorrow….with a smile on my face.



And, for your viewing amusement...here's a teenage-me doing long jump. If I was still being nerdy, I'd point out that my legs should be straight out...and I'm way too high...but, whatever.

Tulip

Took some pictures of Amanda yesterday. Impromptu, outside of the office, "please don't make me Hannah, I don't want to"...those kind of pictures. Amanda HATES when I take her picture. Even when she sees me coming. I think the sound of my camera pouch being unzipped is enough to freak her out. And, dear blog readers(yes all 3 of you), may I ask why someone who is tall, thin and adorable would ever NOT want her picture taken?




And, Amanda, please wait until after all the positive comments come in before you start yelling at me for posting this.

UPDATE

Mom just called and said things took a turn for the better. They don't think it was really a stroke! And she is off the ventilator!!

**She is now talking and thinking are continuing to look better. Yay for answered prayers!

The most precious person ever

My Grandmother Showalter is in the hospital.

She has had open heart surgery, a pacemaker put in and now what appears to be a stroke and other complications....all in a very short amount of time.



She's not a feeble old lady. Let me go ahead and tell you that. She's a strong, independent and capable elderly person & admired by SO many people in my hometown. To know her is to love her...(And I don't think that statement is at all an exaggeration).

(at her surprise 80th birthday party)

Maybe part of what makes her so endearing to so many is her small stature...or the strong and sure personality that is bigger than what you would expect from her 4'10" frame. She is so full of LIFE! So animated and full of stories and life experiences. The daughter of a doctor, she is a retired nurse. She is the wife of an incredible man, who was a high school principal during integration & a WWII veteran…who we all miss dearly. Lina Showalter is the mother of 4, grandmother of 10 (13 including spouses) and great-grandmother of 3. She has instilled in all of us the importance of family…and I can’t imagine a day that I don’t keep in touch with all of my extended family.

(she will kill you at ping pong)

I LOVE my family, and I have Grandmomma to thank for keeping us all together and coming back to that familiar house on Jefferson Avenue year after year. We’ve gathered there for holidays, birthdays, and random “everyone’s coming over to Grandmother’s for dinner” days…and what makes it so memorable and special to me is not the physical location of where we are. It’s not the metal chair/stool that every grandchild sat on to reach the kitchen table, not the chocolate cake with pecans that is made for every special occasion, not the miniature table and chairs & cupboards filled with toys, not even the front porch swing or the family pictures that line the stairwell. What makes that brown house with the moon shutters so very special to me is the person who lives there, and all that she means to my amazing family. It can’t be explained in words.



I’m struggling to be at work today. Every single part of me wants to be 4 hours from here in the hospital room, squeezing her hand and whispering to her that I love her so much. So very much more than I know how to express.