Some days

EToday the University of Memphis beat the University of Mississippi Rebels in football for the first time in a VERY long time. Our fair city hosted many new friends and the whole town was finally rooting for the tigers together without hardwood being involved. 

My oldest daughter, ran the Lebonhuer Pumpkin Run 5k and came in 3rd in the age group (even though she accident it aged herself up during registration!) and then went to finish swim practice! (For those with kids, this is a great race to go to and play while your family member(s) runs. They have a bounce house, face painting, snacks and music while the race is going on AND it supports our awesome Children's hospital.)

While Annie was at swim practice the little girls and I went to the park and played. We met some kind boys who helped the girls on the spinner, they both conquered the GIANT spider web, Dill pushed Georgia on the swings and both of them expressed clearly how tired they were getting from such an active day! 

Then we went home, made some baby gifts for our impending cousin, finished up a pair of pants for Georgia, got nails done, napped, played and did this...

For all my "togetherness" as a mom, I'm constantly pushed to up my game, stay on my toes and be reminded that I am human! Dilly has seen all of the Tiger blue around the city, she watched the game and saw kids with blue face paint, and then stumbled upon in our swim meet pouch that we keep in Annie's swim bag. Complete with sharpies. And guess who became an "awesome blue tiger"? Yup. And I have to admit, I was VERY impressed with the speed in which she did it! 

All in all, fall break has been a wonderful week. I've sewed, baked, cooked, organized, cleaned, played and snuggled with my family. It's my love language and I loved getting to "speak" it to my children. I hope we made some memories they'll cherish. 

Oh goodness.

It's the first Sunday of 2014. I'm hoping to recommit to me and my family this year. 

I haven't blogged in 2 weeks. Which has been basically the whole time we have been on break. It's been a roller coaster, but I have really been thankful to spend so much time with my kiddos and doing things I love; cooking, sewing and running! 

Our break did not start off well. Geoff's father passed away on December 20. It was the day before his 77th birthday. This was a tough event to have happen so close to my mother's yartzeit and the holiday season. 

On my mother's yartzeit, I made a big breakfast for the kids, had my sister over for a bit and went on a run with my friend Carrye. It was actually a nice day. 

My mother-in-law came to spend Christmas with us. It was a great few days of getting to have her here, spend time together and watch the babies delight at seeing presents under the Christmas tree. 

We took the kids to see Frozen and went to see Starry Nights on Christmas Day. Starry Nights is a local event where our local park decorates a 2 mile strip with Christmas lights. Lissy is finally old enough to get excited so that made it more fun! 

Then my family got together for a belated Hanukkah gift exchange. We all had a great time exchange gifts and having dinner together. My parents bought my kids a trampoline and they have truly spent as much time as possible on it! 

I tried CardioBarre for the first time and loved it! I've also joined in on a quilt along on Instagram. If you'd like to see what in up to my username is @alwaysthinkbigger_rbk 

Tomorrow I go back to work and the babies start their new school at Temple Israel. And if I don't forget, I'll post my recipes from the last two dinners that were both made from Pinterest! 

Until then!

Rachel

The Marathon that Wasn't

On Friday, December 6, 2013 I was poised to run a marathon the next day.

But, Mother Nature decided that it was not meant to be.

To be honest, at first, I was pretty upset. I shed a couple tears, sitting with my friends at the Heroes Pasta Party. But, as Rick Shadyac said, "We must remember that we are only a small part of this community." He was talking about Memphis and Shelby County. Shelby County had been declared in a State of Emergency, meaning that already the medical and police personnel who were going to help with the race was reduced. Many volunteer groups had told St. Jude coordinators that they would be late, diminished in numbers or not there at all. And worst of all, AutoZone park, the location of our finish, was a GIANT sheet of ice. Meaning that you might manage to make it through your first 26 miles, but that .2 might quite actually be what does "it" for you.

I was really excited about running this race. I was excited to check off "Run a Marathon" from my "Things to get done" list that I had written with my mom. I was excited to do that in my hometown. I was excited to do that with my friend Kirsten from 1st grade, with whom I had reconnected through running. I was happy to change the meaning of the date on the calendar and remember it for something wonderful and positive. It was going to be a great way to finish off my year. I was supporting an amazing hospital and accomplishing an amazing feat with all sorts of wonderful people around me.

But, Mother Nature decided that it was not meant to be.

A long while back, I joined a facebook group; RUN365. It's a goofy group of runners. Some are so super fast, it blows my mind. Some are slow and I am reminded by their posts how hard I've worked to get where I am. And others are in the middle, like me, working to improve a little each day. This year I've invited numerous friends and family members to come run and to join the group. One such friend, Carrye, was supposed to run the half marathon. An event that is unremarkable for many, but I got her to come run with me for the first time in July. So this is kind of a big deal for her, too.

But, Mother Nature decided that it was not meant to be.

As a teacher, I spend a lot of time trying to teach my students lessons that are not in my curriculum guide. They have little to do with classroom biology and everything to do with life. Friday night I was not a nice person to talk to. I was rude, I was ugly, I was disrespectful, I was unkind. I did not remember the lessons I have shared with my students so often.

And then, I made plans to run with one of my RUN365 friends who I met for the first time in person at that Heroes Pasta Party. We  were not the only ones out there! Some ran the whole course, some ran in other parts of the city, some ran just what they felt like running. We decided to meet downtown and run. The distance was to be determined by how we felt in the cold and it was cold! We would wear our Heroes singlets, since we earned every stitch of them. Starting at the Peabody hotel, we ran into the front of the closed AutoZone park to survey the ice, down Beale St, down Main Street, by Gus's and Raiford's and South of Beale, by the National Civil Rights Museum, and the FedEx Forum right past 2 basketball players and from there we could see LeBonheur and St. Jude and the entire Memphis skyline and we decided to run to St. Jude. We ran down to the campus and the security guard told us where we could and could not go. We ran to St. Jude and took our own race photos with the statue and then ran back to Peabody and got to the front of AutoZone park. And it was 5.24 miles, exactly 1/5 of the marathon. And then we saw them. Runners with medals. We asked where they got them and they told us to run around back and "finish" and we too could have our medals. So we did.

Mother Nature said that the marathon was not meant to be and it wasn't. But for so many of us, the spirit and the message of St. Jude, to work through all obstacles was already in our minds, our hearts, our spirits and our feet. So we ran our victory laps.

It was the marathon that wasn't.

St. Jude Marathon

Friends and Readers. 

I can't even begin to put into words how I feel going into this coming weekend. Excited, frieghtened, elated, nervous, energized; the list goes on forever. But, no matter the word I use to describe it, the last one is always; thankful. 

Thankful that my family and I have not needed St. Jude for one of our own children. 

Thankful that St. Jude has supported so many of my friends' children. 

Thankful to have St. Jude in memphis. 

Thankful to have St. Jude. 

If you have not and would like to, please join me in supporting the work of St. Jude. 

Http://heroes.stjude.org/rkannady 

Their work is never done. 

I hope to see a few of you on the streets of Memphis cheering for runners and cheering for the kids of St. Jude. 

Thankful, 

Rachel

Want to run?

Many of you know and some of you may not, but my dad is a prostate cancer survivor. Many of you also know, I do NOT call myself a runner.

Several years ago, my dad underwent surgery to remove the cancer and has remained cancer free since then.

Here in Memphis, there is a run coming up to support the research and work being done to cure this disease affecting millions of men each year.

If you are interested in participating, this year's run will start at the Botanic Gardens at 7:30am on April 27. You can register here. If you'd rather just give to the cause, the website found here, has lots of great information! The event is sponsored by the Conrad Pearson Clinic and is part of a national event.

Obviously, I think this is an important cause, if you do too, or you just want another half marathon in before summer, please join us!

In my running shoes!