Runner's World Challenge: Summer Streaking

Me and Jackson! See below for more pics with Jackson. Taking pictures with bunnies is tricky. They wiggle. They don't cooperate. They blend in with your clothes. They complain and use bad language.

Back in January I ran at least one mile every day for 30 days. Beginning tomorrow I will join the Runner's World Challenge and run at least one mile from Memorial Day until the 4th of July. I have a head start since I ran yesterday and this morning. When I finish I will have run 40 days consecutively. Happy Running!

 

New Computer Week

Happy News! I have almost restored my new computer to all the normal functioning of my old computer. It has been a huge disruption of my normal weekly schedule but it is done. The new computer is faster which is very cool so there is a bright side. I have not yet made a decision about photo software but I am using the photo software that came with the computer to upload photos. There have been some problems with that but it is unclear if that is a software issue or an issue with my camera. Time will tell. Bailey will eventually come home and be able to help me with all my computer issues!

Bailey competes at Big 12s on Mother's Day! If she qualifies for the first round of NCAA competition then she will not be home for a while. If she does not qualify then she will be home soon!!

Here are some cute bunny pictures to brighten our rainy Friday.

Jackson is shedding! Lots of bunny fur floating in the air!

Jackson having a snack.

A Disturbance in the Force

I have dreaded writing this post! Last week I fell completely apart with regard to all the things I need to be doing. It is all Dean's fault!! He was out of town for three days, he threw his back out and he had lots of work to do and somehow all of that interfered with my running and my read-the-bible in a year plan. I have no idea why all those things that were happening to Dean caused me to NOT RUN and NOT READ but they did. I don't make the rules (well maybe I do) I just live with the results!!

Actually it was just a weird week. Anytime he travels it does throw me off, we are definitely a team and when one of us is gone it causes a disturbance in the Force. I was also trying to get everything done before Friday, when we went to visit OU. So I crammed 5 days of things into 4.

Still, these are all excuses and the truth is I do what I want to do if I make a schedule and stick to it. Last week I did not stick to the schedule. 

 

What I ran in week 4

Week #	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
4		3miles repeats 9:17, 8:56, 8:59			Greenbelt run 6.06 (1:08)		3.03 29:41 Tempo

 total: 12.8 miles
 

What I ran in week #5

Week #	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
5					5.03 miles 54:17		7.02 miles 1:19.28

 total: 12.5 miles

 My total ( miles) was about the same so nothing should be lost from a cardiovascular perspective. It is just depressing to have only run 2 days. I think this will be a better week.

Again, it's Monday and therefore a good time for more happy bunny pictures!

A very relaxed Jackson!

The bunny enjoying his bunny castle!

Back of Cleo, front of Jackson!

 In the evening Dean brings Cleo down from upstairs and she and Jackson sit on the pillow in Dean's lap. We all watch television together. Cleo is having a bunny snack in the above picture while Jackson snuggles with her.

 Cleo is the upstairs bunny and Jackson is the downstairs bunny. Cleo is Bailey's rabbit. She roams the upstairs and wreaks havoc in Dean's office by day and sleeps in her cage at night. On the days that Dean works at home she demands that he pet her and talk to her until she is ready for her nap. She, too, has a bunny castle and is very much like a cat because she has many favorite sleeping places.  

Jackson is active in the early morning but "relaxes" and "rests his eyes" most of the day. He can be found in his bunny castle or in my bedroom under his cardboard box cave. He also sleeps in his cage at night.

I plan to have a better week of running...hmmm...I may have said that before. I have already turned over a new leaf in my Bible reading, I read for an hour this morning (before I ever got out of bed). I am on my way to catching up! It is raining here which does not bode well for running today, perhaps the rain is temporary! Happy running in the rain!

Lost Sheep

Running did not go as expected again. It seems to be a continuing theme. Life required some extra things last week. We, the third-graders and I, finished the Armor of God study and so a new study of the Parables has begun. This meant that we needed a new bulletin board and new folders. For our final week on the Armor of God we listened to a musical for kids based on the Armor of God. One of the students and his family recommended the CD. We had Heads and Tails Oreos (Chocolate cookie on one side, vanilla on the other, double stuff cream on the inside!!), listened to the CD and colored some velvet pictures.  I used the kids velvet pictures to decorate their folders. This was not difficult, just a lot gluing. Since we are learning about the Parables of Jesus I made a sheep from the parable of the lost sheep to put on the bulletin board at the front of the class along with an explanation of what a parable is and the verses for the parable.

 There is no parable about an octopus (or any of the other pictures), we are considering these pictures to be decorative only!

In addition to ending the Armor of God study, I completed recently the Beth Moore James study. In the study Beth suggested that we might consider cleaning out some closets and giving away the things we do not use to those who might use or need them. This week I tackled a cabinet full of picture frames. Over the years when I have taken a new picture that I want to display I often buy a new frame to put it in. Since I do not have unlimited space, I usually need to take down a picture to make room for the new one. I then take the old picture, still in the frame and stuff it in the cabinet. Last week I took all the pictures out of those frames, stored the pictures in a photo box and then sorted the frames. Some went to Parker, some went to Dean for his office. The rest will go to Good Will. This was not a big deal either but it was very time consuming. It involved fighting with those little knobs and metal things on the back of frames which hold the back on the frame. Some of those were almost impossible to open, others were easy. I also cleaned all the glass for the frames that Dean and Parker wanted, sorted through pictures they might want and of course experienced a few time warps.

In the cabinet was an old album that belonged to my mother. There were lots of pictures in it of my Dad and his friends posing with dead animals. There were lots of pictures of men with inanimate deer and large dead fish. There were also some pictures of my Mom and Dad in Colorado and Utah with friends. These kinds of pictures are a mystery to me...they were taken before I was born. My parents look happy. Since they were divorced when I was three, I have never seen them together when they were happy. Both my parents are gone now. Looking at pictures like those always leaves a shadow for a while. There are so many unanswered questions. I feel a little like the lost sheep in the parable before he is found.

There was also a scrapbook from college in the cabinet. It was filled with cards and letters from people I met my first year at Baylor. It reminded me of how much fun it was to meet all those people from all those different places after growing up in small town Alvarado.

It seems like it might be a good time for some happy bunny pictures:

This is Jackson atop his bunny castle built for him by Dean! It's possible that every animal we have ever had has been spoiled beyond measure!

Eye to eye with Jackson. 

  These pictures may have been taken on what Dean called, "Special bunny Wednesday". Every day is special bunny something to Jackson. He rushes out of his cage every morning absolutely certain that today is the day that he will be allowed to eat as many dehydrated carrots, veggie treats, papaya treats, and Basic 4 cereal pieces as he wants!

 With the priority on Sunday School, cleaning out cabinets and Jackson, running becomes something I am trying to be disciplined about rather than something I am focused on. I will get there.

Here is what I did last week:

Week #	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
3		3miles repeats 9:31, 9:09, 9:20				3.95 miles scenic run	5.04 miles 52:13

 Here is what I ran in week #4

Week #	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
4		3miles repeats 9:17, 8:56, 8:59			Greenbelt run 6.06 (1:08)		3.03 29:41 Tempo

 Even though I am not working as hard as I had hoped at this point I am nevertheless improving. The mile repeats were faster and the longish run was longer. I just need to keep going, my determination and devotion will return. Happy running!

Spring, Spring Break and Bunnies

Spring has sprung. Bailey comes home tomorrow for Spring Break and Easter is approaching! In addition to making a cross a day I have been sprucing up the house for Easter. I realize that Easter has nothing to do with bunnies. Easter is the celebration of Christ rising from the dead after His crucifixion, as far as I know there were no bunnies involved! In celebrating Easter, some people leave behind the eggs and bunnies when their children outgrow the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Not me! Since we have bunnies in our home year round, what's a few more added at the onset of Spring? Here are a few of the bunnies that hang out with us every day:

Picture of Jackson taken today - he looks angry because he is! He did not want me to take his picture. This was the fourth picture I took. He kept hopping away or turning his back on me.

 

Cleo was asleep this afternoon (in her bunny castle) and couldn't be bothered to lift her head for the picture.

Here are more bunnies that can be found here year round.

Lest you believe we are bunny fanatics let me clarify that the most found decorative items in our home are family photos; there are also candles, teenager stuff, craft stuff and more stuff. There are also crosses.

One of the bouquets.

Okay, so back to Spring, Spring Break and the Easter Bunny. Last year, right before Bailey's Spring Break, the weather was dreary and cold. The entire winter had been dreary and cold as far as I was concerned and I desperately wanted to see green grass and flowers and feel some warm sunshine. I do not like for her to come home to our Texas from the very cold Missouri and find more of the same (cold, dreary). I needed to do something to celebrate Bailey's return and to bring some Spring into our life, not to mention prepare our hearts for Easter. I went to the florist. I had them make three arrangements, one large and two small to put in our family room and kitchen.

We loved the flowers and given the gloomy weather it was money well spent. This year we have had a mild winter and today, the day before Bailey comes home for Spring Break, it is sunny and warm! Very cheerful. Therefore, this year to celebrate Spring, Spring Break and Easter I bought a metal urn with a wire cage on top and another decorative bunny!

As with many of my ideas, Dean helped me pull this one together. He purchased an ivy for me and planted it in the urn. He also bought a bag of moss that I then put around the edges of the urn. The tray usually sits there and has been the backdrop for vases, flowers, two very funny ceramic chickens, a turkey at Thanksgiving and two gold reindeer at Christmas. Those are coffee beans on the bottom of the tray.

After my failed Smoothie pictures I took extra time and effort to photograph my little project. The results were comical not professional or artistic!

Parker is holding up a too-small poster board behind the bunny.

Parker is holding up a green table cloth behind the bunny! Perhaps I should have ironed the table cloth!

Despite no improvement in my attempts to 'stage' photographs, I like the way my idea turned out. Hopefully, I will not kill the ivy so that the urn and ivy can remain long after Easter has passed- to be joined by a summer creature or a bowl of fruit or maybe even another less-Easter looking bunny!

Here's Parker, photographer's assistant!

One Thing Leads to Another Again!

So far today has not been a productive day! I heard something yesterday that reminded me of another something I recently read in Madeleine L'Engle's book, Walking on Water. The subject was truth in fiction. I hope to write more on that on another day but first I want to explain why it appears that I never get anything DONE. I accomplish many things in a day but often they are not the things written on my to-do list.

It began with looking up the sections of L'Engle's book that I remembered. Then I wanted to re-read what CS Lewis said on the same subject. I googled it. This led me to a webpage, The Rabbit Room where I read an article about truth in fantasy, this led me to subscribe to the Rabbit Room's RSS feed which took me to my Google Reader. There I began reading the most current article from the Rabbit Room about Christian Storytelling,  and I came upon the word "adumbrated". Not knowing that word, I googled it. This led to the Merriam-Webster page where I found that the definition to adumbrated is: 

1: to foreshadow vaguely : intimate

2: to suggest, disclose, or outline partially <adumbrate a plan>

3: overshadow, obscure

— ad·um·bra·tion noun

— ad·um·bra·tive adjective

— ad·um·bra·tive·ly adverb

After reading the definition I noticed a quiz that appeared to the right of the definition called "Name That Thing Quiz". I took the quiz, it was very exciting because I scored 2900 while the average score is 2420!! I am always excited when I appear above average!

Regardless of the tiny quiz boost to my self-esteem I now have spent too much time wandering about and chasing rabbit trails. The truth in fiction research will have to wait for another time. I  must now get to the to-do list which includes my Bible study lesson, catching up on You Version with my read-the-bible in a year project and doing laundry. One thing really does lead to another but the key is to resist running down the rabbit trail on days when you have run out of clean underwear! All this talk of rabbits, rabbit rooms, rabbit trails requires a cute bunny picture. Enjoy!

Jackson with Christmas presents!

Unsound and Furry

This was a busy weekend. Dean and I traveled to College Station to see Bailey race at Texas A&M. Meanwhile, Parker was left behind to take his ACT test and hang out with friends.

Bailey placed second in the mile with a good time of 4:51! It was fun to see her race and to see her run the mile again! We have seen her compete mostly in cross country at 4, 5, and 6K distances and on the track in the 3k and 5K so it was fun to see her run a shorter distance.

 (Dean and I at Starbuck's with Bailey; inside the Texas A&M Indoor Facility- I love the flags!)

Parker and his friend, Tyler, did not oversleep (my greatest fear) and successfully showed up for the ACT on time. One test down, one SAT still to come!

(Parker supplies for ACT test-taking plus cash for food; Parker and Tyler snacks)

Parker, of course. stayed behind to take the ACT but he also stayed to care for our pets, primarily our geriatric black lab, Max. Max defies the tests of time! He is deaf and has arthritis, he is between 15 and 18 years old. He came to live with us when our neighbors could no longer keep him. At that time our vet thought he was three years old, that was about 14 years ago. We are told this is old for a lab.

 (Max, in his puppy bed)

All of our pets have lived extraordinarily long lives. Our cat, Abigail, lived to 18, with arthritis and near blindness. Even our hamsters have lived longer than expected! Bailey has told me that she always thinks this blog should be called Sound and Furry and she may be right. You would have to have lived with us these past years to fully understand why.

Bailey was thinking of our current menagerie of Max, the ancient lab; Cleo, the upstairs bunny and Jackson, the downstairs bunny but I was thinking of all the furry animals (and otherwise) who have shared our home over the years:

Dogs: Max and Zoe

Cats: Calvin, Carter and Abigail

Gerbils: Despereaux and Leonardo

Hamsters: Chester, George, Beethoven, Calvin, Albert and Gregory

Rabbits: Shakespeare, Cleo and Jackson

Others: a very sweet abandoned wild baby bunny hand-fed and later released into the wild as well as many other abandoned baby bunnies, many wild baby birds- later released,  ants (ant farm), butterflies (from chrysalis), hundreds of praying mantis' (hatched), a frog (who did not survive), as well as lady bugs and the very temporary guests: fireflies (lightening bugs), snakes and garden spiders. 

 (Jackson in the snow, taken last Spring during an unusual snowfall.)

 (Cleo in the snow)

Given all the mishaps, contortions, and intense care involved with a life with animals the blog title might better read: UNsound and Furry. I do know that I have never left my home without some sort of animal fur going along with me on clothing, purse, and especially on black pants even after using one of those sticky rollers to remove it! If there was ever a day that I successfully removed the fur from my person more would await me in my car! We like to think of dust bunnies as additional companions with whom we share our home. I do chase them with the vacuum cleaner but new ones emerge so quickly that it's best to make peace with them.

In the unsound department, I have fed a baby bird cat food with a toothpick every 2 hours and carried a baby bunny, eyes not yet opened in my purse to restaurants and track meets because she could not be left alone. We have driven the congested cat to the emergency vet clinic late at night, we lifted and supported Max constantly and for days when he suffered a bout of vertigo, and I sat with a dying hamster so he would not be alone.

I have loved almost every minute of our adventures with our animals though I must admit to having personality clashes with one of the dogs and one of the cats. And while I loved the little gerbils, one of them (Despereaux) covered his nose with his paws every time he saw me because I was the one who applied the anti-fungal nose medicine to his little nose when he was sick. His reaction, though understandable, hurt my feelings!

It is easy to see why Unsound and Furry should be the name of my blog and perhaps feature prominently on the About Me page!