Big Celebrations and Small Victories

Running in 39* temperature this morning, I think my uvula turned into an icicle and a lung may have collapsed. It didn't help that I'm still getting over bronchitis. I could only push myself for two miles and then I was really sweaty and it was still 39*. That probably can't be good for my health, right? All I could think about was how hard it was and how my Ragnar Relay teammates Lealah and Rik are running the Route 66 marathon in Tulsa, OK this morning. It'll be about 43* at their start. God Bless them!

I'm glad I got that run in, though. I woke up, put my running clothes on, ate half a Fiber One bar, watched the end of 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' and then took off. I forgot my mittens and had to go back and I was SO tempted to just stay home, but I kicked my ass outside again. Even the neighborhood dogs knew it was too cold to hang outdoors. My husband's work schedule has changed and he's now going in early on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so that will make it easier for me to stay on task. I saw something on Pinterest from Runner's World magazine about starting a running streak, so I've pledged to run at least one mile every day starting Thanksgiving through New Year's. I think this will also help keep me to my running program, since the relay is less than seven weeks away!!

It was a busy day full of celebrations. We had our great nephew's dedication at my niece's church in the morning, followed by a little celebration afterwards. I am proud of myself for only having a cup of coffee and passing up on the ginormous cake, bagels and trays and trays of Italian cookies.  I knew we were going straight from her church to my parents to celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary. I picked up a huge buttercream frosted cake and we ordered Chinese. I had a nice piece of cake that was fabulous. The frosting was buttercream, but it tasted like really light and fluffy Marshmallow Fluff! It was amazing, to say the least. We had dessert first, so later on, I only had some fried rice, a piece of egg foo young and some sesame chicken. It was probably the best sesame chicken ever. And that was it. I'm home now, and even though I splurged a little on the cake, and know that the small amount of Chinese food I had was still a lot of calories, I'm still in control. I've been good for having a piece of cake and throwing all caution to the wind after that. That's a win in my book.

Look at that crazy fridge plastered with pictures of their 15 grandchildren!

Anyway, the most amazing thing is that my parents celebrated their 55th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!! I'm so happy to see them reach such an amazing milestone. After the last three years of health crises both my parents have endured, I'm just so grateful to be able to enjoy their presence every single day. To celebrate, they're going to Disney World! (And Universal and visiting family, but that doesn't have the same punch as the previous statement.) There's no two people who deserve a vacation more. I love my mom and dad!