Happy Halloween!

What better way to celebrate Hallow's Eve than with a morning run?  My friend Sarah welcomed me into her running group when I first moved here (one of my many unsuccessful efforts to try and morph into a morning person.) Three times a week we meet at 5:45 am to go running. At first it killed me because where I live it's rather hill-y and mountainous.  And, well, running through our neighborhoods still kill me. But I got into shape pretty fast. Turns out Sarah and her girls were training for the Halloween Half Marathon.  I decided why not?  I mostly agreed because the race is downhill nearly the entire way. Sarah and the girls planned a great running costume -the Cheetah Girls!- Black and orange tutus with leopard print arm, leg and ear warmers.  They were sweethearts and sewed my leopard print warmers as crafty women do (the truest act of love in my book) and I actually managed to make my own tutu. (shocker, I know)

Oops! The race almost didn't happen and had it not been for Kyle mentioning the race while we were on a date with friends last night, I would have totally forgotten to pick up my bib number.  Our friends were patient and didn't mind the detour to the Ken Garff Porche in Orem where I had to pick up my stuff. We spent the remainder of the evening enjoying eachothers company over pottery and paints.

Unexpected blessing. I rolled out of bed this morning to find Savvy snuggled up between Kyle and I. I don't know what time she decided to join us, but it didn't seem to interrupt my sleep. For the first time in my life, I actually felt rested when the alarm went off at 5am.  Weird. I don't anticipate that ever happening again, but it was sure appreciated.

Goals. For my first half marathon I had some funny goals:  try and run the entire race without food or drink, and run the entire time.  This time I decided to try out Goo (that sugary energy paste) and walk through the water stations. And just feel good the entire time

Uh-oh. At about 5:50 am just before my ride picked me up, I realized my Shuffle hadn't charged during the night.  My heart sank. The battery was still totally, utterly dead. I was going to have to make it 13.1 miles without ANY music. No David Archuletta or Cyndi Lauper to pump me up. Not even this guy to help pass the mundane miles through the canyon. Argh.
I was devastated.

Driving up the mountain (or is it technically "through the canyon"?)  to Aspen Grove took forever in the school bus and I was having second thoughts. Once we got to the top and warmed up in the lodge I was feeling better. Mostly due to some very amusing costumes. There were a couple runaway brides in full-on wedding dresses, several eighties costumes, an Adam (as in Adam and Eve), Jane Fonda, Wonder Woman and I think my favorite was this Bill Gates guy. He was in a collared shirt with dockers pants carrying a Microsoft brief case. I wondered if he was really going to run in that costume and carry the brief case with him.  Turns out he did. I came home after the race and saw this picture Kyle took:

He's handing out money to Cade and Savvy on the sidelines. Hilarious!

Tender moment. My absolute favorite part of the entire race was running down the steep mountain and coming around a bend to see my family cheering me on.  Seeing my babies' big grins on their faces and waving their arms happily even though they were probably freezing to death was a tender moment.  It was so cold up there! The race started nearly 45 minutes late, so they had been waiting a long time.  I was ready to shed a layer, so it was nice and convenient getting to toss my shirt to Cade.  He was even holding a thermos of hot chocolate. I should have stopped for a drink. Precious.  Kyle was busily snapping pictures to document the moment. What a man.

Brittany and Sarah were great running companions and passed the time quickly. I was shocked that they didn't turn on their music until mile 10.5. Fortunately it was around that time taht the Goo kicked in and I decided I wanted the race to hurry and be over with so I picked up the pace a little. With one mile to go, the no music thing really got to me. All I could hear was my feet pounding. It got old.

I finished about 3 minutes faster than my last time, which is cool. It wasn't my goal, but I guess that's what happens when you drop about 2,000 feet over 13 miles. You go faster.  My sister would be proud. A few weeks ago she asked me what my goal was. I told her it was to finish feeling good. "Well yeah, but I mean how much do you want to beat your time by?"  I told her I didn't care if I beat my time. I think that kind of suprised her. We're total opposites when it comes to running. So, I did end up beating my time and I walked through most of the water stations, ate two Goo packets.  I suppose all that stuff they say about replenishing your body and giving it rest is true. Huh. I suppose all those runners know what they are talking about after all.

So now I am home and Kyle has taken the kiddies out for a few hours so I can sleep. So sweet. Good night.  Looking forward to making a killing...er...helping the kiddies have lots of fun trick-or-treating.  Here's a sneak peak at what they are wearing tonight:  Cade is a rebellious Dash from the Incredibles (he's wearing a Cape. Remember, Edna said "No capes!") and Savvy is a princess fairy. 

Oh I could just eat these kids up, they are so cute. How did I get so lucky?

Need a good laugh?

Winter weather gotcha down? I've got a little remedy that should warm up your heart and fill your belly full of laughs in no time! Perhaps it's not the most kind thing as a mother to offer a laugh at the expense of my child. It isn't Christmas-y,but this video clip of Cade after his night of Trick-or-Treating really cracks me up.

There's no place like home...

I have dropped little hints, not meaning for them to be hints. They were more like tidbits of my denial breaking down. Some mention of packing, house hunting, etc. have all been jumbled admissions of my future, but I guess I never came right out and said it.

We sold our house.

Rather, we got an offer on our home. I had a pretty good idea of it at about 8pm the Sunday before Thanksgiving, which was T-11 hours to the airport for Cade, Savvy, and my departure.

I got a call from a gal we had shown the house to over conference weekend. At the time she showed a great deal of interest, and I would have bet money that she was going to put in an offer but after several days of no word, I decided perhaps she found something else. Shortly after we signed with an agent. Well, sure enough, the night before I was heading out of town for nearly 3 weeks, the girl asks if the home was still available and if she could see it one more time. Ah!

It was exciting, stressful, and depressing all in one. I called my fabulous neighbor and asked if she'd be so kind to show the interested woman the house while I was away. She was her dear self and agreed so I dropped the keys off at her house and came home I was perplexed. Cleaning the house for showings and preparing a home for an inspection are two different situations. Having to do both and dealing with the idea that my home could soon not be mine anymore was almost more than I could bear. I'd been single-mommin' it for 8 days. I was sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation guarantees me a mental breakdown if it's gone on for long enough. After tucking the children in bed I sat on my bed and cried. It was a pretty cathartic experience. Following a dear friend's advice, I have to agree, it is easier to move on with change after you've had a good cry over it. So that's what I did. And then I packed my suitcase,the children's suitcases, folded 9 loads of laundry, scrubbed the floors, shined the sinks and before I knew it, it was time to wake the kids up for the airport. I didn't sleep that night, but I probably wouldn't have slept much even if I had tried to get under the covers. It's getting old though, this no sleep trend. I think I am pulling more all-nighters now than I did in college. Will address that problem later. Looking at the facts this was a huge blessing. There is no room for a pity party.

Consider the following:

a. Our home had been listed on the MLS for less than a month

b. The woman interested in our home was written in the contract with our agent which meant if she bought, we don't pay our agent any percentage of what our home sold for (she found our home using Forsalebyowner.com)

c. We were planning to have to move out in January anyway for Kyle to recruit, so selling the home would prevent us from having to double pay for housing.

Timing was pretty well on our side, right? Well, yes. But this place was home! And besides, who wants to pack up a house just in time for the holidays? Not me.

I have to say, working without an agent has been really nice. I was really afraid of doing it as far as paperwork, etc. We were able to negotiate over the phone and came to an agreement that both of us feel good about, which is great. She initially wanted to close on the 22nd. I needed more time to pack up, and for nostalgia's sake, wanted to spend Christmas in our home one last time. So far it's all gone smoothly and we are pleased with the outcome. We are scheduled to close on the 29th.

The Ultimate Question is burning within you all.

Indeed our home is not free from the bonds of the devastating market trends. We are selling our home for less than we bought it. If the time we bought it was a peak, I guess we call this, what? A pothole? A really, really deep ditch? A well?

It stinks but, as the old addage goes- you win some, you lose some. We sold our home in Utah a year and a half ago and made great money on that investment. We are losing money on this house, but with the loss of this house and gains of the UT home combined, we are still coming out on top. So that's how I am choosing to look at this situation. I could kick myself and scream and say, "We should have rented!" but in reality, the neighbors we have enjoyed and the experiences we've shared in our home, as much as I've grumbled and complained about no closets or too much yard, they were worth the loss, ten times over. I really would do it again. I've had a lot of time to think about it and I've finally come to terms with it all and feel at peace. The Lord has blessed us immensely. This is a best case scenerio that has played out and I am overwhelmed with the outpouring of blessings. He truly is mindful.

So, there it is. And where are we going? West to recruit, then back to Chicago for the Pest Control Summer, then at the end of the summer to a more permanent location, YTBD (yet to be determined!) because our little Cade is starting school. That, too, brings me to uncotrollable sobs. Kyle suggests Utah, but I'll not hold my breath. I have learned that the only thing that is consistent in my life, is inconsistency.

To pick up my homesick spirits, here are some photos of Halloween that some how snuck past the blog radar until now...

This year with Cade being altogether thrilled at any holiday, I really got into the Halloween spirit. I started off the morning making pumpkin-shaped pankcakes. I even colored them orange, not thinking that it would be completely un-noticeable once they were cooked. It was a good idea anyway. :)

Savannah, unfortunately, was less than thrilled about the prospect of orange pancakes!

Cade about to eat his. Fortunately, he was in better spirits than his little sis.

Cade in his preschool Halloween parade as a monkey for the second year. A little blessing of having children who don't grow much vertically in a year. He wasn't altogether thrilled about it marching in a circle. This is what he was thrilled about-- running down the hill after preschool was over. He LOVES running down chasing after friends. Savvy loves to do it, too.

Cade and his buddy in their costumes. The sun was pretty bright, so Mr. Robot is wearing my sunglasses which actually look pretty cool with his costume. Poor Cade couldn't look up at the camera from the sun. Funny story here. Every day for a week on our way to Daddy's office, the Library, the post office, etc, Cade would say, "Mom! I want to see that tree! Can we go see it?!" I would always say, "sure, hon, not now though. Maybe tomorrow." Well finally I promised him after preschool we'd go see the tree. All I knew is that he would talk about a tree whenever we passed a cemetary, so I assumed it was a tree in the cemetary. Wrong! He pointed to it as we were passing a house on the road. It was in the front yard. I felt silly pulling into the driveway and getting the kids out to look at this tree, but Cade was estactic and completely fascinated by the big hole in the tree.

Savvy in her halloween costume. She's a flower fairy. Love gifted halloween costumes. She was pretty cute.

hind view of our little fairy:

And our little girl chasing her green "maloon" around the backyard.....

Cheese!

Now, switching gears back to the house selling. I totally owe my neighbor big time. If anyone deserves a commission on selling the house, it's her. What do I give her???? She's a mother of two. She tends 3-5 children during the week. Are you thinking SPA????