A December of Not Running

Why am I not outside running on a sunny Saturday morning? The map below should be a clue.

Let's see. My last run of any kind was the Tecumseh marathon on Dec. 5th. I took one week off thinking I'd get a few miles in during the following weeks. But the following week was finals week at good 'ol EIU and that the last week for tithing settlement in the good ol' Mattoon ward. The motivation was just not there. We left for Utah on the 18th and drove straight through via I-80 arriving in Riverton on Saturday afternoon after a short stop a Norda's Mountain Outfitters in Park City. Hi, Chip!

Suspecting the snow coverage at the resorts might be minimal, I packed running clothes but never got them out of the suitcase. Tom and Shelly did invite me a couple of times (they actually put in one 7 miler) but the single digit weather neutralized any desire to join them. I rationalized that if I don't eat as much over Christmas, I can get by with not running. Right. I just weighed myself and gained 5 pounds since Tecumseh. Now there's motivation to get running again, once the weather warms up or I get over this wicked cold.

Okay, so at this point I'm less fit and more fat. But, in it was worth it. In that month I got to hang out with my family. First with Paige and Lorin and their old-sounding children, Polly and Bruce. Whenever I say I can't wait to see Polly and Bruce it sounds like I'm talking about see grandparents. But they are so cute and fun. Polly and get wild and Bruce like to yell but I love them. Bruce seems to like men more than women so he had no problem coming to me and letting me hold him.

Thanks as always to Paige and Lorin for letting us invade their house. We had fun eating at Model A Cafe in Mapleton, shopping, celebrating Paige's birthday, eating, making ginger bread house, decorating Christmas cookings while singing Christmas song and dancing (not me, just the girls). We celebrated Christmas early with a Christmas program and white elephant gift exchange on the 23rd. I came away with a ball like ice-cream maker. I think you put all the stuff inside and through it away to churn it into ice-cream. The next morning Polly and Bruce found that Santa had come in the night and the rest of us opened gifts from each other. I got a great looking running calendar from Paige (thanks to Ben) as well as a long sleeve running shirt. (I think Paige was trying to tell me something.) Lesa showered me with a variety of cologne to wear apparently after I run. I must really stink up the house.

We had the traditional Christmas morning breakfast of Aebleskivers and orange slice garnished with pomegranates. Delicious. That afternoon we drove up to Logan where we had another traditional Christmas meal, prime rib at the Freeman's. I think that alone put on 4 of my 5 pounds!

Second stop was at the Twin Pine Ranch. Thanks as always to mom and dad for the rooms and board. Speaking of food, Christmas day was full of more food including Aebleskivers round two and hanging out with family. For the Emmett family program, we started with the Christmas story with Polly playing the angle. This was followed by select musical numbers including Molly and Amanda sang a beautiful duet, Ben and Courtney offered two guitar/piano renditions of Christmas songs, and Polly and Carly sang and acted out, "Once There Was A Snowman".

This brings me to the Saturday after Christmas. Typically a time to ski but not on a 27 inch based. So I should have gone running but didn't. Too cold. My only activity of the break was bowling on Monday. I lost to both Tom and Bill who can both ski circles around me. Indeed, they are a couple of true biathletes! We went to see the movie, Sherlock Holmes that afternoon and I loved it. That night we watched the disappointing Bears beat the Vikings on TV. I really don't appreciate Brett Farve as a football player.

Back to Sunday. I called back home to Dave Pottle (neighbor and second councilor), who's son Cody was keeping an eye on our basement since during wet weather it seems to collect extra water. We have a system to keep it under control but it's not a good system. Dave, Cody, and Kirk Swensen keep the water under control and really saved us a huge headache. I can't thank them enough! Next week we are having a better system installed. Also, thanks to Al Newman (my first counselor) for handling a funeral and other issues in my absence. I can't thank him enough either.

Tuesday we went back to Riverton so we could eat lunch at Emmett and Ethel's on Wednesday before going to Bob and Annie's for dinner. New Year's Eve morning Paige's friend Heather took some family pictures for us. It was bitterly cold but they turned out great!

Ben cooked up some pizza's that night which were excellent! A little Rock Band and before I knew it it was 2010. (I was in bed of course when it actually came.) New Year's day we left Riverton at 6:00 a.m. and drove to Topeka. Lesa and I weren't feeling well so the drive was duller than usual. Thank goodness the weather was perfect so we could fly along I-70 as fast as we dared. Once we got home on Jan 2, my immune system guard finally gave in leaving me exposed to a wicked head and chest cold that would hang on for a week. It's a good thing I had one more week before classes started so I could get over the cold and get ready for the semester.