Run to the End

What was that I said last time?  I would post more often.... I am not off to a good start.

My new friend Sam and me

As usual we have been busy.  Some of the normal stuff like two swim meets and a few trips to the Food Bank.  The latest animal visits have been a toad hanging out on the back window and then in the outdoor power outlet.  I guess those are good spots, way up high on the porch.  The other sighting was a lovely little fox just outside of the neighborhood.  Foxes are more pleasant to look at than the usual coyote.

Sidney has been up to her usual level of entertainment.  You might remember from a few posts ago the apples seeds being all that was left of an apple.  Well tonight it was a plum.  She picked the stone clean and then stored it in her mouth for good measure for a while.  No food wasting here.

She also finally ran out of baby teeth.  She lost the last molar at swimming over Thanksgiving while doing Golden Lung clinic.  The orthodontist cleverly removed the last baby canine.  The tooth fairly stopped coming a while ago.  I am just happy baby teeth are over.






Sidney also played the piano in the annual Halloween recital and had her fall choir concert. I  generally dread both events, not because of her but because I have to sit for so long.  But neither was too bad.  I actually almost enjoyed the concert.  All of the choirs started together with an amazing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.  She also tried out for the Region Choir.  She did not make the choir but had a very good experience with the practice and procedure so none of it will be a surprise if she tries out in high school.  The kids learn three songs but only get a cut, or a short piece of one song, a few days before the audition which is what they actually sing.




I mentioned the Golden Lung Clinic above.  It is a special swimming camp that Coach hosts over most school breaks that both works on form and endurance, but also some life saving skills.  One of the things Coach, a former Marine, has them do is swim wearing camouflage pants and jackets, or camis.  It wears the kids out quite beautifully.  She always eats lots and sleeps hard after Golden Lung.  And she loves the camis and wants to wear the jacket all the time and the jacket and pants to swimming (but not while swimming).

The last thing Sidney has been up to was a food truck competition.  Her Family and Consumer Science (FCS) class did a food truck competition in class.  The kids get grouped together and have to come up with 5 products for the menu and one recipe.  They have to create a backboard with the menu and the recipe they choose to make.  They also have to make the chosen product and as well as a commercial.  Staff at the school judges the class and the two winning groups go to the area competition.  The area competition was really fun.  It was on the same day as a swim meet so there was some craziness.  The judges for the area competition are high school chef/teachers.  There aren't winners at the area competition.  The teams just get a total score.  Again it was a super experience.  Sidney's team made strawberry lemonade donuts with a strawberry glaze and lemon curd with a strawberry garnish.



















I got my third and fourth new bumper after my last rear ending.  The fourth bumper was a replacement for the front one that was previously replaced but not installed correctly.  It took over 3 weeks to get my two new bumpers....

I have done a bit of traveling in the last two months.  Nothing too exciting, a trip up to Austin and one over to Houston.  These are the first overnight trips I have taken by myself since the accident.  I am not going to lie that on one hand it was hard and the other it was nice.  While in Austin I had an opportunity to sit on a Texas Longhorn, which was way cool, and race armadillos.  Then I got to hold one.  The armadillo racing in no way hurts the armadillos.  It is a method of rehabbing them and returning them to the wild if they can be returned.  They are really pretty cool.  They have no teeth but mean claws.


I also did the Dallas spartan race.  This one was the Beast and came in right around 13 miles.  It was pretty cold but I had a really good time.  I met a young lady in the starting area.  We started together  but she was a faster runner.  I would occasionally see her at obstacles for most of the course until about 4 miles from the end.  We decided then to run the rest of the race together, helping each other with obstacles and encouraging each other on the run.  We both had a great time and are planning to race together next year.  The course was much better than last year with a lot less water, although the water that was on the course was super cold.  I was able to run a good bit of it and the hills were early.  The bucket carry was much tamer also.  I was 8 of 177 on my age group, 84 of 1363 women, and 655 of 4404 overall.  I was quite pleased with that.  I discovered that my friend is 13 years younger than me.


We bought a quarter of a cow from a friend.  I am so excited to have some fresh beef in my freezer.  We will break into it after our trip.

I also had to change the heater valve on our 55 Ford.  The handle on the valve on the engine block broke off and the valve was always open meaning the heater was always making heat.  Not fun to drive when it is already hot.  I ordered a new valve on line and proceeded to remove the old one.  What I hadn't thought of is the system is liquid full.  The coolant from the radiator goes through the block and through the valve to the heater and back.  So when the valve came out, coolant went every where.  A moment of panic until I could get the new valve in.  After talking to my dad I should have drained the coolant first.  Oh well.  I managed and got everything cleaned up.

I had a near miss at work where a glass vase that was on top of the refrigerator nearly fell on my head when I was putting something in the fridge.  I am not sure how it didn't break when it hit the floor.

I went out to the porch night before last and saw that the light bulb way up there (maybe 20 feet up) was burned out.  Ugh.  However I have an eight foot ladder and a bulb tool that has an 8 foot extension.  Bulb removed and replaced.  Another one of life's little problems solved.

I also got the Christmas decorations up a couple of weeks ago.  I dug the wreaths out of their bag and a small piece of what I thought was a branch or something came off of a wreath.  Two of the wreaths hang indoors and one on the outside of the front door.  Sidney was playing piano upstairs and said it looked like a lizard.  When she finished piano she went to look at it closer and well it was the most perfectly dehydrated lizard ever.  He even has all his toes and the tip of his tail.  Being the science geeks we are, he now lives with our fossils.

Sidney's lizard remembrance

I mentioned the trip above.  We are about to depart (in like three hours) for Argentina for 4 or 5 days and then to Antarctica.  I cannot believe after two years of waiting, planning, and paying, that it is here.  We are super excited and a bit nervous.  This will be my last continent and Sidney's sixth.  And Argentina will be a new country.  I can't wait to post details and pictures when we get back.  I am taking the GoPro and Kirk's camera which I hope to learn how to use.