Marathon

Ran the Portland Marathon a little over a week ago and it went pretty well.  Weather was beautiful, had a good collection of neighborhood people holding up signs and cheering me on, Sheryl made it to several points along the route to see me, and I got to explore a few areas of the city that I'd never been to before.

The actual run itself was good, but one or two problems held me back.  Got a little dehydrated and didn't realize that was the case until 15+ miles in.  Unfortunately, this was the longest distance between water stations (from 15.6 to 18.4) and I had to fight through some cramping.  But  I managed to start feeling a little better after hitting the next several stations and drinking all the water they could give me.  Plus there was beer at Mile 23, so that helped.  :)

Anyway, cut 40 minutes off my last attempt (4:41) and no crippling knee problems.  Those are definite positives.  All things considered, felt I did as well as I could have done.  I've been out for two runs since then and things feel fine.  Now I just need to keep my cardio levels up and look for another run to do at some point.

Quick Update on us:  I have gotten a new user name (thanks Schmer) so am able to get on again.  Except that I am beat, so this won't be a long one :)
The 4th grade teachers at Buena Vista Horace Mann are a good, tight crew so Tommy's year is starting off well.  Interestingly he seems a lot less shy about speaking Spanish and flipping back and forth which is nice to hear.
Activities: This year Tommy is playing soccer with the BVHM 4th grade co-ed team.  Saturday's game was a frustrating loss but they've won all prior games.  Tommy's been solid in goal and assisted a couple goals, but has also been a "wall" of a defensive player, a nice new addition.
Baseball:  fall ball is less stressful and more fun - TK's letting the co-coach practise a lot of the head coach responsibilities and that leaves him to focus on skills training, etc.  Fun bunch of kids and really fun families!  Next Sunday we end at 6 so we'll plan on delivering a bunch of pizzas to the field for a casual dinner :)
Along with sports, Tommy is doing a science club on Mondays and starts chess club this Friday.  A good mix of head activities as well :)
Alas, I am co-PTA treasurer and it's been a bit of a slog for the first several weeks of school.  All the PTA officers as well as the school principal changed, we changed banks, merchant accounts, etc - a bit crazy making but we're getting a routine down and determined to make sure that all of us have sane lives!
Happily we're spending more time getting to know good families on our block - Friday several of us met at "the Broken Record" a whiskey bar and southern food kitchen at the end of our street, which has been featured on food channel's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives"  yummy stuff.  One of the houses across the street came up for sale.  A little bummed that the firefighter and his family moved out, but have sent the info to a school teacher couple we know from little league and would LOVE to have them in the 'hood!  Cross fingers.
Work is too busy - I'm really wanting to work less and am gonna figure that one out :)  But making sure to spend time with friends, walking a bit on weekends, and enjoying the stuff this City has to offer!
OK - off to bed!  There are fun stories to share, but for now, just an update!  Miss you guys, Lis

Got back late afternoon from retreat with Knots for Knitters only Friday through Monday. It is in a Presbyterian camp, probably soon to be sold, out near where Sheryl and Ben were married. Beautiful country just beginning to turn color. I spent a lot of time on watercolors, some I started at the Torpedo Factory and some I did on site. Good to get back more into painting. They have done these craft retreats twice a year for several years, but this is only my second one. The lodges have big gathering areas where we set up tables and everyone works and talks. Some leave the lodge only to go eat! I got my alone time outside painting when it was nice weather. Carol Morrison was one of the gang.

Got a call from Mike Cockill, an old friend from Ft. Campbell days. Nelson and Fay and I plan to get together with him and wife Anita a week from Thursday when they are in town. Last time we saw them was when they visited us in Hawaii!

Loved Scott's post and Sheryl's comments!  Love, GrandmaK

DC experiences

Once in a while, I have what I call a "DC experience", where stuff happens that couldn't happen elsewhere. Previous examples:

• seeing Karl Rove live giving a speech with a bright blue tie on, then crossing the street to Starbucks and seeing the front page of WaPo with him...wearing the same tie
• leaving the Smithsonian with Emma and Eileen and being directed by a cop to pull into the middle of the Rolling Thunder parade. We drove in the middle of hundreds of motorcycles, waving to confused crowds cheering our 03 Honda Accord, all the way across the 14th Street Bridge.

You all probably know that the half-smoke is DC's culinary specialty. Well, yesterday I ate a $105 half-smoke.

At 4:30 yesterday, I was driving down 23rd street near the State Department and heading toward the Lincoln Memorial and Memorial Bridge. I was starving, and I noticed a food vendor half a block up on my right. There were a couple of cars parked in the right lane, which is supposed to be clear during rush hour. I figured this was my chance to pull in front of them—right in front of the food vendor!—and buy something to eat without blocking traffic.

I was at the vendor for three minutes, tops. Got my half-smoke with onions and sauerkraut. That's when I saw the meter maid walking away quickly. She snuck up and I never saw her. I smiled at her and asked "too late?" and she nodded and kept walking.

I can't stand it when people complain about getting a ticket just because the traffic people did their job well. So instead I'm trying to get mileage out of my $105 half-smoke :-p Are you not entertained?

Love, Scott

PS still suffering from a super crappy cold—ten days now.

PPS not trying to garner sympathy. I actually find this all hilarious. Except the cold...

Neil's Wedding

Neil's wedding was really fun. Met Bob and Barb in Chicago and we drove a rental to a hotel in Indiana central to the festivities. Made the rehearsal dinner Friday night hosted by Mike and Ellie in an Italian restaurant and met Brie's two little ones and Paul for the first time as well as Helen, Neil's new wife. Both Paul and Helen are very outgoing and the two little ones are really really cute!
Helen comes from a close knit Serbian family. Helen and Neil were married in a 100 year old beautiful Serbian Orthodox church. Incense, crowns, murals, no chairs! A brunch was held in a huge home which reminded me of Sheryl and Ben's wedding. Lots of yummy Serbian food and music (violin, accordion, keyboard, and singer). Neil and Helen are business partners as well. They were introduced as Dr and Dr, rather than Mr and Mrs! Reception was held in a huge permanent tent with a nice floor for dancing. The same music group performed and Bob, Barb, and I joined some of the simple Serbian dances (I had done them at folk dance) as well as the more normal wedding dances. Elinor sent us home with a Costa Rica picture calendar she made plus a kringle I'll share with SMEE. Sorry, it got a little crushed, but still tastes good! We got up too early for me today. Yawn! I'm going to bed early.
Love, Gheema and GrandmaK

K's latest

Lots going on right now.
Scott helped me finish my Costa Rica presentation which I'll give at the Hermitage Thursday morning.
Our pastor nominating committee is trying to update the MVPC website (no small task) and has 76 pastor information forms for us to sift through already.
I started a great watercolor class at the Torpedo Factory. I am the worst in class. No way to go but up!
I started a Spanish class way above my ability level. "                                                                     "
     Actually I understand a lot more already. My speaking has yet to improve.
The American Indian History class continues to be very interesting. I'm taking the second of our texts to Chicago this weekend.
Enjoyed starting to make a paper haunted house with Emma and Eileen last weekend. Will be fun to see how it turns out.
Looking forward to seeing my sisters and husbands, and all of Ellie's family this weekend.
Enjoyed Scott's beautiful concert and a great play at Studio based on Ralph Ellison's 1952 book, The Invisible Man. The staging was inspired by collages of Romare Bearden ( a friend of Ellison).
One of these days I'll have to attack all those piles of paper! Love, GrandmaK, Gheema, etc.

School's in session

Just wanted to report in that these first few days of school have been going well for SMEE!

Eileen's really enjoying Kindergarten and Emma is reconnecting with her friends in 4th grade. Mary's teaching a new 6th-grade advanced math course, which is bumping her position from a half-time job to 70%.

Luckily that fits her schedule just fine: she leaves the house at 7:30am with both girls, gets done teaching and then has an hour and change of her own time before picking up Emma and Eileen at 2:45. It's refreshing for them all to be together instead of Eileen going her own way each morning.

My commute is also easier. Not only do I not have to get Eileen over to the Rec Center for preschool as in recent years, but I just learned that my early-morning class on Tuesdays and Thursdays has been canceled because only one student was qualified for it. That means I get to miss morning rush hour every day now! I will still have late nights, but will get better sleep and see the girls every morning.

Mary has been very consistent about working out every morning first thing, but my most recent exercise was 18 holes of golf...Wii golf, that is. Now that Sher and Ben are literally stepping it up, I'm going to do better, so starting this morning I'm strapping on my running shoes...

Love, Scott

Running

A few months ago, I noticed that I was running more frequently than usual.  3-4 times a week on the regular is usually an indication that I'm training for something.  This time around, however, I had not signed up for any races or events.  Just got the bug to do it.  But that led to me thinking, "Hey, I should sign up for something . . . " and then I spent a week or two kicking that around.  I thought about the Run Like Hell half-marathon that I did last year and that is right at the end of October.  But then I also looked at the Portland Marathon in the beginning of October and wondered if I could actually compress a 16-week training session into 13 weeks in time to do it.  It would be tricky.

Decided to do it anyway.  =)

We're now in the Why Did I Do This? phase of marathon training, where every long run on Sunday is a half-marathon or better and mid-week runs are upwards of 9-10 miles.  My legs are in decent shape thus far with the occasional ache and pain, but none of the crippling knee problems that occurred when I did the MCM in '06.  I'm optimistic I can get through the next couple of weeks and will have a good run on the 7th as I amble through downtown Portland. 

I'm back in shoes and post-birthday...

Hi guys! First I wanted to say thank you so much for the birthday calls with singing, cards and presents! I spent the day doing fun things - having brunch with friends, visiting a favorite yarn store, dinner out, a trip to Powell's and Cupcake Jones and most triumphantly, returning my crutches to the pharmacy!

On August 10 I was cleared to begin walking a little each day in a regular (but supportive) shoe with an ankle sleeve, with an official target of my birthday for no longer using the boot at all. I met that goal, so that was another great birthday present.

Every day walking gets a little easier. I've started using a pedometer and I am back up to my two-mile a week goal of either walking or using the elliptical machine we have in our office. That has particularly been good exercise because there's no impact and it is impossible to limp on it! ;) During my walking, I've been going slowly so that I can really concentrate on not limping - if I just walk and don't think about it, I limp.

I also auditioned and was accepted for a caroling group in Portland. They sing in quartets at places they're hired to be: malls, public areas, Christmas parties, and the like. I don't yet know if I'll be part of the full-time quartet or the part-time quartet, but either way, I should get several hours of performance time and did I mention this is paid? Woo! Rehearsals start this Sunday night, so I will know soon if I'm a part-timer or a full-timer.

Back home

Had a great visit with Helen. Richard and his wife drove down on Friday and Cheryle came on Saturday. We ate much too much food and got in lots of newsy conversation. Hadn't had much time before with Richard's wife, so it was fun to get to know her. She's an artist, so that was added interest.
We had fun going through ancient pictures including Helen tap dancing and striking pin up poses.

Helen is not well, but still able to enjoy life. Her knees hurt and she gets out of breath easily. At 89 the doctors will no longer operate. She misses Rich terribly and is exhausted from her move to a small room in Assisted Living and making decisions about what to give away, etc. With her trusty red scooter Helen runs around the large continuing care center. It's quite upscale with beautiful gardens, lots of things to do and places to gather. My guest room was larger than our Colorado cabin! She has many friends and is going back to playing bridge this coming week.

The overnight train trip is still not my favorite time to travel. It made me mad that it was kept so cold that you needed a blanket which you had to buy for $15. Of course I could afford it, but decided to see if the Washington Post would be enough for a blanket. A young guy across the way bought a blanket for me. That was pretty embarrassing, but I decided to accept it.

Started the book I Rigoberta Menchu for my American Indian course. It really adds info to what I learned in Guatemala.
Love, KMom

The Sermon went well. Glad I don't have to do this every week!
Did Sheryl have a good birthday?
Love, KMom

Happy Birthday, Shmer !!

Sheryl says she doesn't know about the sermon.  Sorry. Thought I had told everyone this. Maybe not.

Our interim pastor is off for several weeks recovering from double knee replacement. His home is in Williamsburg, so he isn't even in town. Since I went to a sermon writing class years ago with Bob Criswell, I was one of the people asked to fill in. I'm calling it The End Game. It's about some life lessons I learned working at The Hermitage. I'm using resident favorite hymns, their advice, their poetry, etc. One of them said I should start with a joke, but the joke is----I've forgotten the joke! 

Love, KMom

Happy Birthday and etc.

Good thing I sent off a package to Sheryl early last week, because my good intentions about making a card have not yet been realized. Hopefully I'll get to that soon. Happy Birthday, honey.

Lisa suggested I use some of the art work from the Hermitage for my sermon this Sunday. Just got back from the church. Looks like we'll reproduce a resident drawing on the bulletin cover, I'll display a quilt on a rocking chair up front and the lamb's picture from our 23rd Psalm window on the communion table.  May bring a couple of calendars and reminiscence books, as well. Last week I collected hymn and scripture suggestions and will use at least one poem as a prayer.

There has been lots of editing for the Pastor Nominating Committee. Scott has helped me get better with Mac computer tools.

Sunday I was able to get to the final day for some great exhibits at American University's gallery. There were fun things like nail and garlic sculptures and sticker art. My favorite was a group of Washington artists' work and portraits from 30 to 40 years ago and now along with a written page of what art means for them and what they hope it means to their audience.

The last Wednesday evening in August I'll travel by train to Georgia to spend some time with Aunt Helen. Could only find night travel. Will arrive back here Sunday morning, Labor Day weekend.

It's always fun to spend time with SMEE here and hear from the rest of you.
Love, KMom

Scott tutorial

Scott is showing me how to post to the Wood Herd blog. Love, Mom

Death of Ben's Grandma

Hi guys - I wanted to post a quick note here to let you all know that Ben's grandmother died. Glendola (Dola) Loers was his mom's mom. She was 92 years old and Kathie says she believes it was peaceful for her. Bernie and Dola were married for 67 years!

Brenna flew in to Portland and the three of us drove up to Oak Harbor yesterday evening. The funeral service will be tomorrow morning.

Ben's grandpa Bernie is doing okay. We'll see him in about an hour, then again tomorrow.

State-of-the-foot Address 4-weeks

Hi all - thought I would update you all on the foot.

It's been four weeks today since THE INCIDENT. ;)

I saw a physical therapist on July 2, who modified some of the weight-lifting I was doing so that they were easier for me to do - now I can do everything from bed - and gave me a few new ones to do for my legs and a stretch for the ball of my foot. Instead of lifting three times a week, he recommended I do 15 of each lift each day.

This Friday I will see the orthopedist again. She will determine at that time whether I have to continue with the crutch/boot combo or can transition to only using the boot with no crutches. If she okays the transition, I will probably still keep one crutch for stairs and perhaps for the first few days. I'm nervous about it, because I've been concentrating on keeping my weight off of my right foot and now I will have to put weight on it. Also, this boot has its own momentum - the bottom is rounded. That makes it easier to use with crutches, but it does make me worry about using it without.

Anyway, that's the latest.

Arm Strength

I'm finding myself disheartened. A month ago I made myself a promise that I would walk a minimum of 2 miles every week. I set a low mileage goal because I figured I would have no excuse to not meet it. I only made it through 3 weeks before I broke my foot. Now, in addition to not being able to keep that promise of extra walking, I'm not even able to move around 1/3 of what I would call my normal amount.

I've been struggling with how to honor the commitment to my health that I made a few weeks back. As I mentioned before, I am definitely finding crutches difficult to use. Taking into account the increased use of my arms, I decided to start lifting some weights to increase my arm strength. Ben got me set up with some weights that luckily we already owned and a space in the guest room with my Ipod nearby. He showed me a few different ways to target different muscles and I'm going to lift three times a week. It's a little depressing how little weight I can lift right now, but I guess you have to start somewhere.

Today the first song that came up on my Ipod was "In the Jailhouse Now." I've kind of been feeling imprisoned by this injury, and I found it sad-funny that this song came up right away.

Schmer’s Broken Foot

So…I broke the fifth metatarsal bone in my right foot. I was in San Francisco Monday, the last of our five days visiting Lisa, TK and Tommy. I was walking out in front of Lisa’s house carrying a large couch cushion (planning to scotch-gard it, her couch is new) and I wasn’t able to see my feet while walking. At a point where the slant of the driveway toward the garage meets the slant of the sidewalk down the hill, there is a mounded patch of cement. I stepped on it, rolled my foot sideways and fell.

I saw a GP on Tuesday who gave me a Velcro shoe and recommended I see a specialist. He also gave me Vicodin – I’ve been taking half a pill at night to help with the pain and to help me sleep. Sleep has been particularly difficult as I cannot lie on my right side at all and it’s tricky to negotiate a comfortable sleeping position that also supports my foot but doesn’t make the rest of my leg tense up weirdly.

Ben picked up some crutches for me on Tuesday night – I was using one crutch on my right side for a day, but have switched over to two to be safe. That’s also been difficult because the combination of being heavy and having weak arms means it’s not possible for me to have absolutely no weight on my right foot for very long.

I saw an orthopedic surgeon yesterday who gave me a boot to use instead. It’s better support than the shoe, although kind of a pain in the ass to get on and off. She predicts that I’ll need to use the crutches and the boot for four weeks, then just the boot for another four, which means hopefully I’ll be back up and moving by my birthday.

So, that’s the latest!

Someday, I'll sing...I think

So, Tuesday, I showed up at PGE park and walked down to home plate, where I met a five year old boy and his mother. The five year old was also scheduled to sing the National Anthem that day...sooo, I said I would take another day, since no one was able to come see me on Tuesday anyway. Now, I'm rescheduled for September 3rd, at a soccer game instead of a baseball game, which should be more fun to watch (for me) anyway. I keep having these moments where I say to myself, "in 12 hours you will have done it" and it keeps being a freaking lie! ;)

My voice teacher pointed out yesterday that including Grammie's funeral, we had two lessons in a row for songs I never ended up singing. ;) But, apparently, I'm not allowed to use that as an excuse not to pay her.