Mission: Accomplished

I DID IT!

Today I ran my final 4 miles to complete my "100 miles in November" challenge.

Now, I am off to decorate the house for Christmas...and figure out how to physically challenge myself through the rest of this holiday season (as I see PLENTY of food in my near future!).

Support Your Troops

Jon left for work, in uniform, early this morning.

I've been blessed - and maybe made a little complacent - that here he is only driving 15 minutes to a military school house to teach.

But today, on Veterans' Day, I think back about rising at 2 a.m. and keeping a smile on my face and a positive attitude while Jon dressed in his uniform and grabbed his bag in preparation to fly himself into Afghanistan.

My father was a veteran. My husband is a veteran. I am a veteran.

This, obviously, makes my patriotism run deep...and maybe makes it easier for me to deal with life during a deployment.
I am not naive enough, however, to think that everyone understands what we're trying to accomplish...or to even say that I understand.

What I do know is that I am very thankful to all of the men and women who have fought (and who are fighting) for our great country.

The truth is that these men and women - whether you agree or not, whether you protest or not, whether you support our current President or not, whether you support our troops or not - have given us the right to believe whatever we wish AND to express those opinions openly.

Thank you to all the Airmen, Sailors, Soldiers and Marines who have given me the right to sit here comfortable on my couch, log-on to the internet, and blog about how much I appreciate each and every one of them.

I love Jon for so many reasons, but today I am especially proud of him for sacrificing for all the things that we take for granted.

Rise to the Challenge

I just finished my 2nd marathon 8 days ago.

Last year I ran the Athens Marathon in November...and then proceeded to do essentially nothing until the sun came out again in March.

I tend to get lazy in the autumn and winter...it's just easier to grab my blanket and curl up with the dog (who'd probably rather be out running with me!).

Then I start my training again - pretty much from scratch - in the spring, and I can manage to lose those 5 holiday/winter pounds and get myself back to were I was physically the previous fall.

So, my challenge to myself (in the hopes of maintaining my fitness level...and maybe improving on this fall's marathon - I hope to run Berlin in September 2010):

100 miles in 30 days.

You may wonder why I felt the need to post this self-challenge. Well, if I'm the only one who knows then I am not accountable.

There you have it, peeps!

It's day 2 of the challenge. Day one consisted of a 3-miler; today I did 4.

7 miles done!...93 to go...