Cross Country: PDXC State Middle School Championships

31st place in his age division

Cross Country - MCL Championship

Pre-Race photo

Henry!

Hen managed to take both these boys on the last stretch to the finish line. Hen's time -13:49.10

(from left to right: Henry, Isaac, Matthew, Kai, Ethan, Jonathan, and Noah) PJA Boys Cross Country Team / 2nd Place

It rained on race day

Amber and I were asked to photograph the Love Life 5K race our friend Sara organized for the daughter of one of her co-workers. It was a little wet in the morning but after yesterday's weather rebound I was hopeful the drizzle would stop. It didn't. Instead, we had a rather soggy event but that didn't dampen the mood of the volunteers or the participants. Sara had a McGyver-inspired trick for protecting the cameras that included a regular old plastic sandwich bag and a rubber band (or in my case, a hair band). Darr and Henry made it in time to walk-run the 5K with Josh, Noodle, Baby Emmett, and Diego the dog. There were plenty of photos taken. (I think between the two of us we shot close to or slightly over 1000, although through editing we honed that number to 681, which can be viewed here and here.)

Mom's weekend

Yesterday Huck and Erin Beatrix showed up at the Hippie Chick Half and Quarter Marathon to support their moms - Ashleigh was a cheetah, kicking some serious butts in the half marathon, and I was a sort of older graying ostrich that strolled through the quarter. The Hippie Chick is my favorite race of the year. There is such a spirit of camaraderie and joy with all of the moms present. There are young and old folks and fast and slow folks and ladies who are about to be moms and ladies who recently became moms and moms who have been doing the mom gig for years and moms that have become grandmas. Plus, you get jewelry at the end. It's awesome.

Later in the evening Erin was dropped off so we could toddlersit while Ms A and Mr B went out for an early birthday celebration with friends who also have birthdays coming up. Is it just me or do you always feel a hundred times more vigilant when you're watching someone else's kid? Once Erin and Henry finished dinner, we headed over to the park, breathing a collective sigh of relief after we successfully navigated the city streets and hit dirt. The kids were, of course, interested in the train tracks. Perhaps if left to their own devices they would have ventured à la Stand by Me style (minus the discovery of a dead body) all the way to downtown, but one great feature of toddlers is that they are still little enough for you to pick up and redirect if needed. There was slide action and swing fun* and then we hit the play structure for bigger kids and Erin went nuts over the tube slide. She went down it over and over and over and over again. Henry made it down once or twice before deciding it wasn't to his liking. Then we returned home just in time to start the process of getting both kids dressed for bed, we made it as far as clean diapers, when Erin's parents showed up. Of course there were pictures... And we snagged some footage as well.

Two toddlers for an evening from Christie Glynn on Vimeo.

Today we are celebrating Mother's Day. I know brunches on Mother's Day are the thing to do but hitting a super crowded restaurant with lots of other families seems less appealing so, in a surprise burst of morning energy, I made blueberry muffins, bacon, and scrambled eggs for breakfast. The best part of the morning is that Henry ate so heartily, consuming half a piece of bacon, nearly one whole egg, several bites of muffin, one cheese stick, and lots of frozen berries (that he gobbled up when I was mixing the batter). We're on track to be lazy today. And for dinner, we're going to grab some takeout from Three Doors Down. If I can somehow finagle my husband into doing the morning dishes, the day will be darn near perfect.

*Swing fun refers to what happened after swing danger. Swing danger occurred when Henry, who had been placed in a child's swing seat with only a chain across the front, leaned forward and started to topple and slide out of the seat while it was in motion. To prevent further swing danger, we parental units removed Henry from the hazardous swing and placed him in the age-appropriate swing with Miss Erin, at which time swing fun continued minus the danger element.

13.12, thank you very much!

Yep, I pounded the treadmill for 13.12 miles this afternoon and completed the Nike Women's Half Marathon. Yea, me! I did the same race in San Francisco three years ago. It was the coolest thing - well, not when you compare it to bringing forth life into the world - but...

Anyway, when I signed up to do it this year I knew I wouldn't be able to take a weekend off to take part in the run (plus, registration is done by lottery now because so many people want to take part), so I registered to complete the race at home. I got to watch a movie and stop for breaks throughout the day. The only thing I missed was going past the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory. That was part of the course in S.F. and so we got tasty chocolate bits. Just what you need when you're coming up on mile eleven, I assure you. Mmmm...chocolate. I've uploaded my race info to NikePlus and should receive my finisher's t-shirt and T&C keychain in four to six weeks. Woot!

Race Day: The littlest human on the course

3:47a.m. - Look at the clock and imprint time on brain. Henry is up and has been for a while - ugh.

5:01a.m. - Henry finally goes back to sleep.

7:00a.m. - Alarm goes off.

7:06a.m. - Drag butt out of bed and get ready. Henry is sleeping soundly.

7:23a.m. - Wake up baby and get baby dressed.

7:32a.m. - Place baby in car, stow baby-related accoutrements in the boot, get in the driver's seat, and commence motoring.

7:35a.m. - Stop at Starbucks (ugh.) for an orange juice.

8:06a.m. - Arrive at Champoeg Park.

9:00a.m. - Start race.

11:23a.m. - Finish race.

It was a most excellent morning and a most excellent Hippie Chick race. Today, Henry was a hippie chick and he did splendidly. For starters, I think he may have been the only baby on the course. There was one lady who had her toddler with her for a bit but he was passed off to dad before too long. And I definitely think he was the only male participating in the race. I hope I didn't break any rules by having him there.

Around mile two, Henry became a little fussy so we pulled to the side of the road for some milk. I can't count how many ladies passed us by cheering, one more reason to love living here. The practice of breastfeeding would be infinitely more challenging if you felt the disapproving stares of the general public everywhere you went. Or if folks like Ashcroft were there to drape you with a cloth so as not to see the offensive boob. Luckily I had the foresight, since I wasn't carrying Huck's big old diaper bag with us during the event, to stuff a diaper and essential diaper-changing items in my jacket before the race. We were able to avert catastrophic diaper failure with a preemptive change before getting back to our walk. We were passed by the first half marathon runner right after the mile three sign. Shortly after that we took another break so Huck could have something to eat, and get a little relief from the Baby Björn, which must surely have been scrunching his poor little baby bits, if you know what I mean. Ouch.

By mile four, Henry was definitely ready for the race to be over. He had hit his limit in the sling and was letting me and all of the other race participants in the vicinity know it. Thankfully, Henry is easily distracted. We looked at, and he almost tasted, some leaves from plants bordering the trail, and he chewed on my hair, my fingers, the bills of his hat and my own, and one of the small cups I had taken from a water station along the course. A few tickles were in order by mile five to keep him happy. And then, finally, we were heading down the chute to the finish line. It was awesome. I had expected that it would take us three hours - giving us plenty of time for stops along the way, but we actually completed the race in just under two and a half hours. It's a ridiculously long amount of time for the six plus miles we trekked but I feel rather proud he was able to hang with me for the race in its entirety with relatively few complaints and zero mishaps. Throughout the race we were showered with love from all of the other moms, many of whom told me I should receive "bonus points" for hauling Henry the whole way.

Congrats to all of the hippie chicks who participated in this year's race. Happy Mother's Day, ladies.

Our first Mother's Day weekend

Our Mother's Day weekend began early Saturday morning when I left home with Beauty the wonder dog and headed to Champoeg Park for the Hippie Chick race. (Beaut and I did the quarter marathon.) Sara was kind enough to pick up my race packet for me the day before. While she was correct in stating the shirts this year were less than appealing, I did have a pretty good bib number - 1. I was busy gabbing with Sara, as she waited for the Noodle to wake up from her nap, so Beaut and I didn't start on time but we did all right once on the trail. Lots of people commented on the bib number, I only saw one other person with a single digit, and many questioned how I came upon such a number, as if I had some insight into number distribution (I don't). A runner who passed me after the fifth mile happily pointed out we were shoe twins. I didn't really know such a thing existed but plan on watching shoes in future races so I can point out people's feet.

Tan came over in the afternoon to spend a little time scrapbooking. Sometimes there are just too many projects to choose from. I decided once the Resident Alien arrives it's probably unrealistic to think I'll have a bunch of available time to work on a family album so I started putting one together that will begin with our pregnancy and go through a year of the baby's firsts. I'm guessing this one album might end up becoming thirteen albums - first Halloween, first Christmas, first President's Day - there's a lot of ground to cover. At least I'm getting the process started, which increases the likelihood the photos will one day be placed in an album.

Darr returned home with Mother's Day gifts. Yea! The Cinnabons were great and the card was most excellent but the Bugaboo Gecko stroller was the coolest. We spent some time Sunday afternoon putting the stroller together and taking Elle & Mabes for rides around the condo. Cat tested, mother and father approved.

Shamrock Run 2007

While Darr slept, even though he had me register him for the event and even though he was supposed to be participating in the event with me, I headed to Tom McCall Waterfront Park this morning to take part in what is hopefully the first of many foot races I'll complete in 2007. The race - the Shamrock Stride, a mere 3.5 miles jaunt around the waterfront that crossed to the east side over the Steel Bridge and back to the west side via the Hawthorne. The weather was perfect, albeit a little gray. Beauty the wonder dog was the most wonderful Shamrock walking dog ever. She was attentive and well-mannered and was able to follow me as I shifted around the slower walkers. She received many compliments and was able to meet a few of her canine brethren along the way. She did sort of growl at the Irish Setters that were there from one of the local Irish Setter rescues but I sort of think that had more to do with the tiny green hats that were perched on the dogs' heads than any malice Beaut might have had for that particular breed of dog. Darr was just waking up when I returned home. Should you see him sporting a Shamrock Run 2007 long-sleeve green tee-shirt any time in the near future, be sure to give him a hard time. The man (a.k.a. my husband) only has that thing because I picked the shirt up for him while he was sleeping, in the bed, in the early morning hours of Sunday, while his wife (a.k.a. me) was out with the dog, walking, not in the bed, sleeping. (I sort of want to use even more commas in that last sentence but can I? I mean, is it proper?)

Hippie Chick 2006

I participated in the Hippie Chick Race with my friends Tan, Sara, and Mo this morning. Oh, and Mikah the dog was there too. I'll have to remember to bring Beauty the wonder dog next year. The weather was gorgeous, a little chilly at the very beginning but it quickly warmed up once we were in the sun. I loaded the pics on our site, click here if you'd like to take a gander. My favorite shots are of Mikah and a pretty purple flower I saw after the race as I was sucking down some Jamba juice.

Shamrock Run 2006

Woohoo - our first race of the season! Darr and I woke up super early this morning, took Beauty the wonder dog outside for a brief potty walk, and headed downtown to participate in the Shamrock Run. It was early but we made it in time to grab our tee-shirts and race numbers before the race began. There were gobs of people and the cutest Irish Setters with little green hats on (unfortunately, I didn't think about taking a photo of 'em until it was too late) but the weather was not fantastic. We finished quickly, I had to teach Darr the race method of bobbing and weaving through the crowd to get out in front, and then walked up to the Red Star Tavern and Roast for breakfast. Yum, beignets!

I noticed an odd thing while walking. I apologize for the blurry nature of this photo but as we were in the midst of the race it seemed impolite to stop to aim and shoot. Anyway, these ladies were walking and the curious bumps on their behinds attracted my attention - and not in a good way. These were not odd-shaped asses but water bottles strapped on to fanny pack belt contraptions that were hidden under their jackets. This is not a good look, people, don't do this.