Oh All My Lousy Runners!

Post Lousy Run

Well first I must say a heartfelt THANK YOU! When Heather & I decided to put on a Virtual 5k to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, I could not even have imagined the support we'd receive. We ended up with 178 registrants, and raising over $2500 for the cause! So seriously, I am beyond humbled. Of course, with 178 Lousy medals to package up and mail out, it's going to take me a little while to get it all done... you know, in my spare time!

The Actual Lousy Medal!!!

I was actually ready to do the mail merge to print the mailing labels. I had carefully formulated the columns to Proper case, concatenating the City, State & Zip code, to then realize the only labels I have are the extremely small (and personally, I deem them useless) a whopping 1/2" by 1 & 3/4"... yeah, useless. So looks like I will be busy this weekend, well Sunday during Gabby's nap anyway since Saturday I will be interning from 7-4pm... yay!

Just days before this run I found out that a running mom friend was told her cancer was back. DaDiva is an inspiration and a positive spirit who brightens lives through her sense of humor and unparallelled presence... When I headed out for my Lousy Medal Run, I had a few things on my mind and one of them was my little green monster (which is how I affectionately refer to her as she is back on chemo) - it was what pushed me to have one of the best runs I have had in so very long. All I could think of was if this amazing woman can run a marathon on chemo, and now run our lousy medal 5k just days after restarting chemo - well friends, I have no excuses, I must run, and run I did. I'd say like the wind, but it was more like an average pace of 9:19, but for me, it felt like a gusting of emotion and determination.  

Then there is this business of the Grand Prize drawing... I am not sure if everyone thought to come back and leave a comment but I feel like with 10 days post race, and ample prodding... It is time to draw the winner... I know some had issues seeing their comment post, but I received the email (for each one) and have compiled the unduplicated list... First, lets see what we have up for grabs!

Now this package is geared toward the women, but hey if you are a dude and you win, you could make a lady friend very happy (assuming she is into the running thing too)... We have a princess tiara bling holder from Allied Medal, a Tough Chik 'iRun' t-shirt, iFitness head bands and a One More Mile belt. Total retail, around $100, not too shabby!

So without further ado.... The winner of the super duper prize package is....

<<< DRUM ROLL PLEASE >>>

Stephanie Christianson

Congratulations Stephanie! I hope you love this little bonus for supporting a wonderful cause!

I also want to post a few pictures that I got my hands on from those who participated... If I missed anyone's photos I apologize now!

Cheryl & Amber ready to run!

..and they have paparazzi?

Libby made these for her group

Leia & Wonderpup

Holly & Amanda got it done!

Libby's Group Photo - LOVE IT!!!

Kim &her princess

Jinny flexing :)

Ross's Inspiration

Kim got it done right before the snow!

Bye Bye Hectic Holiday Season...

I just realized I haven't written anything since the 3rd...tsk tsk... Not that I am going to blame any one thing mind you - December has been a whirl wind in my world, as I am sure it has been for most of us!

The semester was pretty non eventful, much lower key then basically the previous 4 years I've attended. This was a part time semester with one night class and one lunchtime course. Neither very challenging nor writing intensive (which isn't making a case for why I have been MIA..hmmm) - Anyway, I ended up with another 4.0 semester, which would be my GPA if it wasn't for that pesky B I received in Exercise Physiology back in the Fall of 2008 (which seems like eons ago), it has me hanging at a 3.944 so it would appear I will never get that elusive Summa Cum Laude, Magna it is...

In the midst of finals, my little baby girl had to have a bilateral myringotomy, which is fancy for tubes in both her ears. We have spent so much money on doctors co-pays, antibiotics, not to mention taking time off from work. While scared to have our angel put under anesthesia, we couldn't be happier with the results. In the past week and a half, she has heard more and began walking more, giving us piece of mind that it was indeed the right decision. Hopefully when we go back to the doctor in January, she will score flying colors on her hearing test...

On a sad note, we said goodbye to Teeny Martin a.k.a. Granna, she passed on December 20th... She was a spirited woman, and even though she struggled with verbal communication, due to multiple strokes prior to when we met, she spoke volumes with her kind eyes, bright smile and all too clear expressions... I will always remember how she hated to be told to sit, and often tested the boundaries by trying to sneak around and get up to walk by herself... oh and her eye rolling was priceless. She will be dearly missed but I am forever grateful to have been a part of her life, and having her at my wedding, meet my baby girl, celebrate Gabriella's first birthday with us, and chase her around the house at many a family BBQ as she said "No No No"... she was always ready to go home by 430pm. I take comfort in knowing she is now in her forever home, watching down on us... 

So life in the Epton household never seems dull... we have Joshua who is obsessed with Drivers Ed and a car, and Gabriella who is just getting her legs figured out. Stephen is steady improving his golf game...maybe someday we will be traveling to tournaments to watch him? I really feel like I've been replaced by his new shiny golf bag...lol

You'd think with classes over that I would have more free time right? Ah, not so much! I continue to be consumed with fundraising for the upcoming Tinker Bell Half, just booked my travel today - apparently only like 2.5 weeks late...oops! The Lousy Medal Virtual 5k was a huge success, we will be posting the Grand Prize winner here in the near future & seriously, I am so humbled by the sheer generosity and support of others... My crafting was not so successful. Two craft shows and little to show for it. Although I did have some running friends order some custom frames for their family which I have to say, I was so thrilled with how they turned out! So with the Lousy Medal Virtual 5k, Crafting for a Cure and the Bondi Bands, I will be about $200 shy of my goal - which is great in the grand scheme of things!

Of course, if you didn't know, I always have something going on... tonight I start my Internship, last part of this Bachelors in Exercise & Sport Science program. So last week I busted out my excel spreadsheet and worked it until somehow I found 350 hours from now until April 25th, to complete this deal. Yes, 350 hours on top of my full time job, my house, my family, my training, and ultimately my desire for a full night (heck 6 hours straight would be awesome) of sleep. How you ask? Well, not easily and not without sacrifice. Thankfully, I have a very supportive husband... he has said multiple times that it's something that needs to get done, and we will work through it. It would be silly to throw in the towel now, so close to finishing, so press on I will (woah, I went all Yoda on ya!) - finish this degree up and proudly sashay across that stage on May 5th... seems like forever away but I think the older I get, the faster time passes... 

I am looking forward to completing this chapter, and I already have big summer plans... What are they you ask? I plan on finding my toes in the sand more this summer than summers before! Especially since I started this degree process back in March of 2006... a lot of summers were consumed with accelerated coursework! Of course working from home will help with that, 10 minutes to the beach + 40 minutes on the beach + 10 minutes home = 1hr lunch...oh yeah, something to look forward to! No more studying, no more papers to research and write...this summer I am all about relaxing! (Someone remind me of this post in May please when I inevitably will find something to get involved with!!!) 


That my friends is December in a nutshell! Stay tuned, later this week will be the Lousy Medal reveal, race report and announcement of the Grand Prize winner!!!