OKC Half Recap and A Crazy Week

I was really happy with my finish today at the Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon. This was my second time running the race, and I felt a little more prepared than last year. My finish time was 2:18:38, and my goal was 2:20, so I’ll take that! I had planned to stay with the 2:20 pace group for the first 10 or 11 miles, but jokes on me, there were so many people in the starting corral that I never even saw them.

I was glad I talked Kayleigh into running this race again with me. She did opt for the Quarter marathon but its better than not having her! We both groan while trying to find a place to park in the morning and then shuffle shoulder to shoulder at the start, but the course is great and the support is top notch. People line the route cheering and even set up their own support stations along the way. They dress in costumes, make great signs, and some even offer adult beverages for a little liquid encouragement! I stick with the donut holes, LOL.

For months, I’ve known what this Sunday would look like. As I’ve already said, it’s been a crazy week, full of enthusiasm and pride, Alex’s City Tennis title, surprise, Daryl announcing he was going to prom on Saturday and needed some “stuff,” and sadness when we learned Wednesday morning that Jeff’s mom passed away in her sleep. Pattie had been in good health and had recently hosted all five of her kids for dinner, so it was a shock to all of us.

Despite the roller coaster of activity and emotions, things didn’t go off the rails. Everyone still made it where they needed to be, including me, to the race this morning. Afterward, I met Jeff and his kids in Wichita for tonight’s rosary, and tomorrow we will celebrate Pattie’s life at her funeral.

When I get home, I can’t wait to hear how prom went. The pictures so far look like they had a great time.

My friend Karen took what is probably my best race picture! Thank you for coming to cheer for me!! 

Getting to the course when a lot of streets are closed is not easy. I appreciate you hugging me at mile 9 when I was beyond gross! LOL 

Asked a runner to take our after picture, I'm so glad she caught us discussing what we wanted to do. This is us trying to take a picture every time. 

Cousins!

So glad Grandma was already lined up for this weekend. So when we all found out Daryl was going to prom he had someone to take his picture. So handsome! 

Tennis Goal Complete!

Today was the City Tennis Tournament, and I’m not going to bury the lead, Alex got first place in the Varsity 1 bracket! This has been his goal since last year when he got second in the Varsity 2 bracket.

He had one match that was closer than any other he’s had this season. He was down 0–2 and came back to win 3–2. I was really proud of him because even when it didn’t look good, he didn’t quit. That showed some mental toughness that he is still developing.

The best part was that his buddy won the Varsity 2 bracket, and Robison had placers in the Varsity 3 bracket and two of the doubles brackets. So they were in the running for the team trophy, and they won it! Good job, Ravens. You had a heck of a season. That’s a great way to leave middle school tennis.

He is already looking at camps for this summer, so I know we aren’t done with tennis, and that’s okay with me.

He ended the season undefeated with a City Tournament first-place finish. Good work, Al! Now for some ice cream tonight!

Funny story, it rained right before the tournament started, so the kids pushed water for an hour. When they all took a break Daryl, Jeff and I went into action! It was all hands on deck. Tournament started 90 minutes late but that's ok, they got to play. 

With his medal

The Robinson Singles players. 

City Champs!!! They did it!! 

From Farm to You Week!

How are we halfway through April?! This month is flying by! I’ve been watching more sportsball than normal this month, and the weather is being really crazy. In other words, April in Kansas.

One fun thing that happens this time of year is my office’s From Farm to You program. Minus a few COVID years, I have enjoyed seeing second graders come in every year and learn about agriculture since 2010. With the help of a lot of awesome volunteers, we set up 10 learning stations where the kids learn about crops, livestock, soil, and weather. New this year, we had a milking demonstration where most of the kids saw a cow milked for the very first time!

Helping kids make this connection is one of my favorite parts of my job. The fact that my entire office helps pull this off is another favorite part. It’s a long day, but it’s worth it. And I got 12,000 steps this year!

Another fun thing this week is that I got one step closer to creating multiple “cozy” spots in our house. When we moved in, we set up a nice space on the enclosed porch, it’s great on a breezy day. This year, I created a cozy spot on the front porch too. I found some awesome rocking chairs at the store, but they only had them in white. Luckily, they come in a ton of colors, so I ordered this awesome shade of blue and got a little gray table to go with them. It’s the perfect shady spot to read after work. I finished a book out there this week and love how it all turned out!

Most of the 50 pictures I took at FFY were of this precious baby!

Cutie! 

First of three groups getting ready to see the milking demonstration

Tippy was such a good girl!

Ready for front porch rocking!

Including this picture to document how tall Daryl is getting!

March Goal Post and Tennis Begins!

Made some good progress on my goals. The weather here is crazy, but when it’s nice, I’m enjoying being outside! Alex did have good weather for his first tennis match of the season. He won all of his matches, and the other school had way more players, so he played eight times!

Daryl got to pitch last week in his game against Washburn Rural, and he did great! He was a little so-so about baseball when the season started, but he’s all in right now. Hopefully, we can end the year on a high note!

Read 30 Books (up 6 from last year) 6/30

I finished two books in March and was really close to a third so that should make for an easy three in April! The first book I read was top rated by my friend Lisa and I should just copy all the books she likes. It was great! Heartwood has a lot of stories going on around a missing hiker on the Appalachian Trail. I love books that bounce between characters, it makes you keep on reading! Recommend, if it wasn't an e-book I would put it on the shelf! 

My second book also kept me turning pages. A Curse So Dark & Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer filled my fantasy quota for the year. It’s not my go-to genre, but this was a good take on Beauty and the Beast. I picked it up at the Dusty Bookshelf in Lawrence, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I’ll probably put it in the book sale pile. It does have a sequel, but like I said, my fantasy quota is full. LOL

Run 620 miles (down 30 from last year) 158/620

I ran 65 miles in March. I am doing good getting my long runs in for my race prep, I'm falling behind a little bit with my mid week runs. I set my alarm, I just don't always get up! ope. My race is the end of April so I should get good  miles this month too! 

Grow my savings by 60%

Made another savings deposit in March and my savings goal is on track to be accomplished by September! Jeff and I are also starting to shop around for our first house project for the year. We are replacing our privacy fence, but I don't want a boring privacy fence....so stay tuned! Lola will be very sad she spent most of last weekend escaping from a "private" location. We finally figured out the board that she could push through. Darn dog. 

UFO (unfished objects) to be completed in no particular order 

Did some more stitching on my UFO. I was going to take it with me last weekend and I forgot it! I have some travel time at the end of April so hopefully I can finish it on that trip. 

    Alpaca Quilt

    T-Shirt Quilt

    2 photo books for Daryl and Alex

    1 knit project from stash

    1 stitched project from stash 

I am not a sports photographer but I liked these!

Progress on my stitching project

And my new rainbow pants, just for fun!
I love thrifting!

Baseball and Band

 We are ending March with a flurry of activities. 

Last week Daryl had his first baseball game. This season started off rough with him taking a baseball to the eye during tryouts. He had to take 10 days off (doctor’s orders), but the good news is he’s back and ready to play. Definitely a tough way to start the season.

Alex had his first music festival last Thursday, and it was such a fun one to watch. The middle school band headed to Baker University, played two songs, and got rated on their performance. They ended up with an excellent rating. I took the morning off to go watch, and I’m really glad I did, they were so fun to watch!

And then Jeff and I snuck away to see David Byrne. He’s been on Jeff’s bucket list forever, and I was just along for the ride. I have now been converted to a fan! The whole show was so unique. The band marched around the stage with their instruments, every song had visuals, and it just felt completely different from any concert I’ve been to.

My favorite was Psycho Killer, and the crowd absolutely lost it during Burning Down the House.

10/10 would go again.

Celebrating our successful week at a Library themed speakeasy. There was a password to get in! 

Fun at the Theatre!

So we made it through Spring Break, barely! The kids went back to school today, and they are not as thrilled as Jeff and I are. We’re down to the last nine weeks of school, and this is when everything hits.

Lucas had spring break last week, so we had him home for a few days. I think his favorite part was the access to the fridge. I had to restock everything in the pantry after he went back to school, LOL.

Before Spring Break, Aaron was in his middle school musical. It was a really cute production called Frankie Builds Androids. Aaron had a number about flying frisbees, and we were all singing that for a couple of days. It was catchy!

During Spring Break, Aaron participated in the Civic Theatre spring break camp, and Joseph went to zoo camp. At theatre camp, Aaron was cast as Shrek in Shrek Kids. I don’t know how they put together such a good show in five days, but it was awesome. He did a great job!

Now the calendar is going to fill up with baseball, tennis, track, and band. Here we go!

This is how the Meerpohl boys spent most of their days. 

Middle school production.