Virginia's Gold Cup

In early May, David and I had the opportunity to attend Virginia's Gold Cup in The Plains, Virginia. For those who don't know, this is a horse race on a grass track. It is great fun. There is food, hats, horses, more hats, seersucker suits, the races, and lots of socializing. Thanks to our friends Jamil and Lambeth for inviting us!

Cooper's Second Birthday

For Cooper's Second Birthday, April 25th, we decided to have a family party. Here are some great shots of the Birthday Boy. He enjoyed everything about the day-- singing, clapping, cupcakes, candles, presents, and of course, ALL of the attention on him!

Camping!

Over Spring Break (April 2011), David and the older boys went on their first camping Trip. They spent three days in the Shenandoah National Park. We aren't campers (anymore...we did enough of that when we were in the Army). But, David wanted to create a special Father-Son Memory and he felt like the best way to do that was to take all of them a bit out of their comfort zones, away from their electronics (His and the Kids') and just have some fun! They enjoyed hiking, climbing, and Smores-making. 

My Running

I have now had the opportunity to process for 48 hours and I am ready to share what the Sports Medicine doctor told me Tuesday. As suspected, my injury is plantar fasciitis. I had this 5 years ago and successfully treated it, but it's back.
Unfortunately, I have a much further progression than I have ever had before. Ultrasound shows that at the point of connection to my heel bone, the fascia is measuring 7mm in thinkness (swelling) with a 4mm pocket of fluid surrounding it. Looks like it was heading towards rupture...not good.
The solution: no running for 3-6 weeks with physical therapy (2x/wk) and cross-training (3-5x/wk), then reevaluate. If it heals, back to running with modifications (gait, stretches, etc.). We would evaluate other options such as five fingers or shoes with orthotics at that point. If the fascia is not healed at 6 weeks, we will talk about interventions (steroid injection potentially- ouch).
I do not have a bone spur and I do not desire surgery. I am a runner. I want to run long into the future. So as heartbroken as I am, I am going to get well and focus on the long-term. And, yes, that means no Marine Corps Marathon for me this year.

~(a VERY sad) Sharon

Listening

I am a rule follower. I have said it often and it's never really bothered me that I follow rules. I mean, doesn't that mean that I have integrity? I suppose in moral evaluation rule following is great but I have discovered over this summer that it can also be a pressure point or a driver to some of my behaviors (can all my nurse friends say OCD).
I am marathon training. It's a feat! It's harder than I ever anticipated. It's as much mental as physical and sometimes I even wonder if mentally I've gotten soft (b/c I wouldn't have in the past considered myself soft). So, I have found that I lean to my "rule-follower" tendencies to keep me on track with my training plan. If the plan says I am running 6, 3, 5, 7, 12 this week then in the past, that's what I would be running...no matter what. Injury, fatigue, schedule, life, crisis, nothing would stop me. But I have found that this training is a "marathon, not a sprint" -- pun intended. I MUST LISTEN to my body; sometimes it can do the plan, sometimes it needs the plan to be modified. If I want to make it to Race Day healthy and prepared (mentally and physically), there has to be a balance between my listening skills and my "rule following." I know this is likely not news to many of you out there but this is a true epiphany for me. And, it doesn't just apply to running, it applies to life.
I said to a friend last week that I have discovered: I am best off when I allow guilt to result in grace.
My new commitment to myself is now to keep the end in mind and listen before I act.

~Sharon

Car Adventures

This week was hectic and I had a son who was sickish (long story). I didn't realize how off kilter I was until Friday though...here's the story:

Thursday, I came out to my Tahoe, we were in a rush,  as you often are with 4 kids. I noticed immediately that something wasn't right. My steering seemed sluggish and there was an "engine overworking" sound to the car when I got above 45 mph. There were no "alert" lights or indicators on. The tires seemed fine. So, I kept going to my destination with a cautious driving stance. It became clear thru the day that this was not a temporary issue. There was definitely something wrong with my vehicle. I suspected power steering or drive belt. I called the mechanic and told them the symptoms and said, "it's almost like when I drive in 4-wheel drive but worse." The mechanic said that could check it the next morning.
On Friday, I took it in and had an hour to kill with the 2 youngest kids. We walked a mile to enjoy a slurpee and visit the local fire station. When we returned to the garage, my mechanic told me, it's done- you guys are ready to go. I was surprised and asked what was wrong with it. He chuckled and told me, Nothing.
What?! I knew that couldn't be right; something was definitely wrong with my truck. I looked at him quizzically and he said, "you know how you said that it was driving sorta like it was in 4-wheel drive? Well, it was in 4-wheel drive...you must have hit the button accidentally or one of the kids did. The indicator light is hard to see in the sunlight, especially if you didn't mean for it to be on. (I think he was just being gracious.)
He told me that he checked out all the belts and fluids and everything looked great. He didn't even charge me for the time and effort he spent on it. All in All, "no problem, no charge" was a great thing to hear from the mechanic but I still felt silly!
There will be no more "driving" for the little kids and no more trips to the mechanic without checking the 4-wheel drive light for me.   :0)

~Sharon

Doing great...simply?

I am always amazed how people will throw money at a problem. Recently I have been more interested in the behavior of people working in austere condition throughout the world. When a decision is made to spend money and the end result is something that lacks longterm viability. A recent example was the purchase of a large generator for a village. Turns out the generator runs on petroleum which is near impossible to find in this region. The point...LOTS OF MONEY spent in a solution that didn't work. This morning I watched Arvind Gupta speak on the simplicity of toys that also serve as teaching aids. I love his passion, simplicity, and the great things he is empowering people to accomplish...and all of this at MINIMAL COST!

Enjoy...David

Family Picture

I have lots of photos and videos that I want to get out but the best place to start is probably with our most recent family photo; It ain't easy to get 4 kids on a couch smiling, looking in the right general direction, and interested in the 40th photo of the day, while at the same time having the parents stop giving instructions long enough to smile. The kids did pretty good!

~Sharon