The Rocket is back!

You are right Lucia. We are very blessed. There are SO many great things about our government that we take for granted.

Don't forget your sissors. Go put them in your running shoes right now! xoxoxoxoxoxo

Oh yeah- GREAT abs! Whoo hoo! I'd like to find mine! ;)

My abs have been hiding for so long now I dont' know if I would even recognize them if I could see them LOL

I agree... we are so blessed to live in this country and I think we here in Utah are doubly blessed. I love everything about living here, I think it is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Lori

Wow you finally found your abbs! I hope I can find mine when I done lounging around! lol

By the way, hows the jaw holding up and are your scars starting to disappear? When can you kiss again? lol Im sorry, sometimes I think of the worst scenarios! cheers

Let's all begin a quest to find our abs!!!

Funny you ask, Wall-e, I've been going out on dates with two guys that I'm not sure about, and it's great having an excuse to get to know them better before kissing! It's pretty funny that they still want to go on dates with me, my scar, my metal mouth and scissors! And they have to do all the talking!!! Dating in your 30s is hard, especially in DC!

The scar is healing very very slowly - my chin is still all red. I'll post some pictures soon. The abbrassions in my hand aren't healed yet either. It sucks being old... remember when we were kids and the day after getting a cut we already had a scab? The jaw is ok - the wires come off on November 14 but the braces stay on; the wires are replaced by rubber bands for two more weeks. It'll be a liquid Thanksgiving dinner for me!

I must have missed it.. what happened Lucia?!?! Did you get into a royal rumble match with someone? :)

LOL! Benn, I fell off my bike on October 19 and broke my jaw in two places, got surgery October 21 and now I have these braces and wires that keep my mouth shut so that the jaw bone heals properly, so I can't open my mouth at all, I'm on a liquid diet for 6 weeks, and can't brush my teeth on the inside (ewwww) - it's uncomfortable but not painful - our friend Walter is definitely having it worse!

OH MY WORD!!!!!! That is insane!! I cant imagine what I'd do if that happened to me. ANd *knock on wood* I've had some close calls.

Two years ago when I was riding from Ticonderoga, NY to Old Orchard Beach, Maine We were coming down the Kankamagus (highest point in the White Mts of NH I believe).. and I was on my hybrid bike with a helmet and sunglasses, well it's downpouring and I look at my spedometer as we are rocketing around corners and we topped out at 45 mph! In the rain and we were just too afraid to touch the brakes and go flying over the side!

Also, this summer my average downhill cruising speed is usually around 40mph and I had a close call with a stupid dog that ran out in front of me. SCARY STUFF!

I hope you heal up soon! That is really bad luck :( And that stinks not being able to brush your teeth! hehe

Benn, that sounds so dangerous! But kudos to you for wearing a helmet. A broken jaw can heal, just like other bones, but your brain is what can really change your life (Someone very close to me had a brain injury from a bike accident - he recovered fully, but it took him 6 months and it was a lot harder than my injury. I'm blessed by my little broken jaw).

The funny thing is, like you, I've had my share of close calls, almost being hit by a car, going very fast on a downhill, riding on a busy street... but the accident happened when I least expected it, as I was riding on an empty sidewalk on a nice day and not going very fast. A moment of distraction and I went too far to the right, and my handlebar got caught on an iron bar and that was it. So, we need to be cautious but not stop doing the things we love for fear of getting in an accident, because truth be told, accidents can happen to anyone at any time, no matter how careful you are. Ride safe and thanks for your kind words!

Benn and Lucia- KNOCK IT OFF!!! No more dangerous stuff! YIKES!!!! ;D

About finding the abs, I think mine are still in there becasue they are SO SORE!!! NOw if I can just get all the LUB on top of them to go away, maybe I'd be able to actually see them ;)

I want to find my abs too! Maybe I should invest in one of those ab belts! Or at least get an air brush or some fake plastic ones to put under my shirt ;)

My downfall is my diet. I need to start logging what I eat and making myself cut out carbs. I.e. I eat like 4-5 bagels a day~! And then pizza now and then and sandwiches. Grr. I'm such a junkie :(

I think I have abs under my LUB too marion! How to get that LUB to go somewhere else though?! Without paying 10000 for surgery :( doh!

Benn, someone from the blog suggested www.my-calorie-counter.com and I've been using it since my accident and love it! It helps not only to count calories, but also to see how much protein, calcium and fiber you're getting in your diet so you can make healthier choices to meet your daily doses.

Benn- I just don't believe that you have ab problems! NO WAY!!! but my brother swears by eyeliner for great abs ;)

as for diet- carbs are essential for a runner- maybe not 4-5 bagles, 2 whole grain ones are not a bad idea. I started making pizza with 1/2 whole grain flour in the crust. The recipe is FAST and easy!!!

I would LOVE my LUB to go to my FLAT bum! If I could only figure out how to move the love handles and lub to my rear end, I'd be HOT!!! BAHAHAhahahahaha!!!

Lucia- that site sounds GREAT!!!

Yeah I think my downfall is that I loved when I was doing 40-50 mile weeks. I could eat anything I wanted and not gain a pound, but then when I got injured all that weight started piling on because I just couldn't stop eating :(

I'm going to try that calorie counter, Lucia! Thanks!

Marion, you crack me up!

The site is not as easy to use as Weight Watchers, but it's free... :)

Yeah Benn- when I was out with injury I had to be SO careful about my eating. ;)

Lucia- Hey you need to use whatever will work for you and what ever is FREE :D Yeah for FREE!!! Become a lifetime member and then WW is FREE ;)

So since I ran this morning and I wanted to eat something, I chose 2 x 100% whole wheat toast with a bit of peanut butter. Is that a pretty good choice? oh and a coffee with skim milk.

that is an excellent choice! Throw in a peice of fruit and you have PERFECTION :)

I am off to run. It feels like I am gettin ready for war! 8 million layers!!! ERG!!!

HAHAHA sweet! 8 million layers?!?! WoooEee! Wage war against the snow beasts out there! *sips my coffee* You're making me cold! I might try to do another mile before class tonight as a reward if I fnish this paper in time.

I'm so jealous! I love running in the cold and snow!!!

Have you tried a banana and peanut butter sandwich? It is soooo good!

Happy running kids!

I tried that once and I agree, mMMmMMmmm! Good eats!

Hands down though my favorite sandwich of all time has been and will always be Grilled Cheese :-D

Aughhhh (mouth watering sounds)... definitely heavenly... The only two things I miss from this liquid diet are cheese and bread... you can't liquify cheese and bread! Oh, or candybars, ha!

you can't? I always thought you could take some milk, some vanilla Ice cream and a snickers and throw it in a blender for a bit and presto change-o instant awesomeness!

Yeah, you would think... but the pieces of peanuts/chocolate don't blend small enough and get caught in my teeth... it's funny and annoying! Weirdly enough, pasta is very easy to blend. Liquid pasta with sauce, mmmm!

HAHA. Man that's nuts :) I bet you feel like you're an astronaut or something for NASA having to eat everything all like that. Just think how great it will be though once you get those things off! You should have a party with all your fav eats!

Benn- you inspired me. I am having homemade whole wheat bread with peanut butter and a bit of honey from my neighbors bee's! Umm- now I am off to a funeral :( Have a GREAT day!!!

So, how much have you lost on this liquid diet of yours??

I think I have abs, but after 5 kids and 3 C-sections, they might have completely disappeared!!

It's weird, Kelli - I've only lost 12 lbs. I had gained 10 when I stopped running, so I've really only lost 2 lbs since the summer, but my clothes fit again. I think what happened is that I gained muscle in my upper body with all the swimming and biking, and that's why even though my weight is not that low, my smaller clothes fit again.

Yeah, I think your abs deserve to be resting... they served a very good purpose!

Na, my youngest is 3, so they have had enough rest!!

12 pounds. WOW. While I still would not recommend falling off of a bike and having surgery as a weight loss method, we have to see the positive here! One accident and its resulting weight loss made up for another one and its weight gain.

I am glad to hear you are out running again. Be careful, bring the scissors, and enjoy your abs!!

How do you go on a date when you can not talk?? That is kind of like marriage!!!

Wait! Hold the phone! When I go on dates with Emmy we usually get in trouble for talking too MUCH! You mean things change when you get married/!

LOL!!! Look, Kelli, you're scaring poor Benn! :)

I actually think some guys really like being with girls that don't talk, they are the ones that like hearing themselves a lot :)

Oh well I am a good listener (Most of the time). And I actually like listening to people more than talking. Like in school I learn more that way I find. It's easier to formulate my ideas after hearing stuff and thinking it over. I hope I can still talk and listen when I'm married!

After 16 years and a lot of running together, there is not much to talk about!! I make it a point to save things for dinner, otherwise we look like all of the other old married couples who have nothing to say to each other!!!

Ben, it is not that bad!! You will have all sorts of stuff to talk about for a LONG time.

Of course you will, Benn! Here's what you can do: stick to running marathons for now... after a few years of marriage, when you're running out of things to talk about, and when your kids get older, then you can run a lot more and try some ultras (like Jim). :)

AHaha OHHHH Now I get it. THATs why they all run ultras?!?! hahaha It makes perfect sense now!

:-D Girls are funny amazing things. I dont' know if I will understand them. But if there is one thing I've learned it is that boys are even weirder !

Well said!! And, get used to listening, that is all us married women need (especially when you get 3 or 4 kids running around and no grown ups to talk to)! You will be the most excellent husband.

Benn- you'll be great at marriage. The trick is to love her no matter what she morphs into ;) Ask any man- women change all the time, without warning. The rules are never the same from moment to moment, even though WE as women understand them, you're out of luck ;) Just know that life changes us all and when you marry, you marry for ALL that life has to offer! All of the greatest thing under heaven come from loving and caring for our families, every single day, good, bad and especially the really bad ones.

Sorry, I just got back from a very inspiring funeral. My friends husband died on Halloween. He is 2 days older than I am. I am feeling a little sentimental :)

How sad Marion!! Do they have kids?

My husband called me Sybil once. NEVER do that!!!

They have four. :(

Kelli is right Benn- no matter how nuts you think Emma is, NEVER tell her! It won't help! Trust us! :)

LOL!!! Very true - and I love the other piece of advice that you brought up before, Marion, that seems so obvious but is very easy to ignore: NEVER sleep on the couch!

Well, when he called my Sybil, it shocked me right out of being crazy. Now I call myself Sybil. I tell Scott to back off, it is a Sybil day. My kids are clueless, but he knows what it means!!

Now I have discovered the problem. I sleep on the freezing cold leather couch every night!!! (Scott snores and scratches his throat and breathes like Darth Vader. I get so sick of listening to it! I have asked him to buy me a bed for Christmas and we will put it in the playroom!!)

Awww :( Yeah I snore too I think but I try really hard to fall asleep AFTER Emma and her family so I don't wake them up hehe. It used to be really bad as a kid I had sleep apnea and a hole in my heart to boot, but running I lost like 40 lbs and my snoring got a lot better! I just hope I don't make her want to go sleep in the playroom or something though!

She might kick your butt to the playroom!! Some of our kids' toys are possessed, so maybe i should buy him the bed!

Maybe she is not a light sleeper...then you will be in luck! Or buy her earplugs for her wedding present!

Oh yeah she's not a light sleeper at all. Like one time I got to her house and she was asleep and I opened her door which was squeaky .. still passed out. Then her cat came running in and was like walking on her head and she still didn't wake up haha. Once she's out she's like a sack of potatoes. (well maybe feathers! because I am not insinuating she needs to lose weight! i know how girls take comments and distort them! ;P )

Wow, you do know women!

Okay, all will be well. She will not be able to hear you (but it will be up to you to listen for predators trying to break in and steal the cat.)

My husband sleeps like a ton of bricks. One night I had been up, as usual, with a crying baby. I had fed him about 20 times and he wouldn't sleep or quit crying (he was about 8 months old). David just kept on sleeping as I was becoming more and more upset. Finally I was SO mad I put Ford back in his crib crying and decieded that I was leaving! In my head, David was pure evil and the worlds biggest jerk for not waking and helping me with our son (remember, he is sound asleep and totally unaware of any problems). So I put on my robe (no shoes) it's winter. I grab the keys and am OUT OF THERE! I get outside to the car and realize that I had the keys to the church and NOT the car or the house! I am locked out in the cold with no shoes, no clothes, just my robe. I am SO mad that I refuse to ring the door bell to have David let me in. I contemplate walking to the church and just sleeping there, but that freaks me out. So I go into the carport and freeze for an hour before I realize that I can unlock the side door through the dog door. I went back in and crawled into bed and DAvid never knew. When I finally told him, he laughed so hard I thought he might split! So the moral of the story is if you are going to leave in the middle of the night, get dressed all the way, get the right keys and make sure the person you are fighting with knows about the fight.

In case you don't know Benn, women can have a fight with a guy that he is totaly unaware of! ;)

That is one heck of a story Marion! You just don't cease to amaze me! And you are so right that we can have fights without the guy having a clue!!!

MAN SEE Girls ARE CONFUSING!! how can you have a fight that both people aren't aware of (assuming that each member is awake of course) haha that was one funny story, Marion!

You think this is confusing? You've seen nothing yet, my friend! You're in for a rollercoster ride!

I've probably ruined all of your fanatsies about marriage and having children :) sorry guys! ;D

ps- Ford was asleep after about 10 min of crying in his crib. His bedroom window is right by the carpor door.

Benn- women are amazing creatures that make no sence to men. It's a REALLY good things that men REALLY like women (most anyway) ;)

Marion, you crack me up! I can HEAR you telling that story. MEN!!!

Absolutely the contrary, Marion! I think sometimes couples that have good marriages don't want to share their "bad" stories/moments, they worry their kids will be upset if they argue in front of them, etc... but in reality, it may be good for younger unmarried people to find out that even good marriages have tough spots and difficult moments/arguments, and that what matters is that they get over them. I think partly why my ex-husband and I couldn't make our marriage work had to do with the fact that we both thought our respective parents had the perfect marriage, so we thought ours would be the same, and when things became difficult, we thought we weren't meant for each other, instead of realizing that marriage is difficult and that all couples have problems and work hard to solve them... I hope I'm making sense here... So, bottom line is, your story really helps, and it is hilarious!

Well said, Lucia!

Do you think Emma may come hunt us down and smack us???

You are TOO right Lucia. Life together is not easy. There are very hard things. Being married does not mean fairy tales. Being married means that you have covenanted to become a family. You may not be blood realted to start(hopefully ;), but you become blood. David is my family. Do I like him all of the time- NO WAY!! Does he like me all of the time- DOUBLE NO WAY!! But we are a family with all of our little munchkins!

I can't wait to have little MUNCHKINS!!!

Uh oh, I saw my name being used in vain and now I have to respond. I've been married 28 years and we usually have things to talk about, like our grandson and how we don't get to see him nearly enough, all the critters we have living with us, work stuff, what to have for dinner, etc. But a lot of times we don't have anything to say to each other and that's no big deal, we're comfortable in our silence. When we do talk, I bore my wife with running talk and she bores me with horsey talk.

Have to add a comment about the abs. I always have told my kids that I have a six pack, it's either underneath the table muscle or in the fridge!

Jim, did you start running ultras when you were young? How did your wife feel about it? After seeing Horton's wife cry in his movie, it dawned on me how difficult it must be for someone to have a family and train properly for ultras... what are your thoughts or advice for young runners that are considering ultras?

I don't need to read my novels any more, this was great reading guys!!! I loved it and all your thoughts on marriage. Very entertaining and enlightening!!! And I am waiting for Jim to respond to Lucia's question. So how long were you married Lucia? And Benn when are you getting married? Kelli and Marion you both crack me up!!!

Leslie, this blog really is better than therapy! I was married for 6 years, and I learned so much then. That's why I always say to my friends, I can tell you everything about what NOT to do in a marriage if you want it to work! You and the other wonderful ladies in the blog, on the other hand, can tell Benn what has worked for you!