Old News - a friend of mine just gave me some photos from the Mrs. Oregon Pageant, so I decided to upload them here -

A NEW CHALLENGE - It seems as if my life is about challenging myself, whether it is going to Airborne school and learning to jump out of a "perfectly good airplane" or whether it is entering a beauty pageant or running in a road race. I told myself that I was done with running marathons; Portland in 2001, Country Music in 2004. But here they come with the Inaugural Eugene Marathon, right here in "Track Town USA", how can I not run? I told myself that running and mostly the training for a marathon was too hard on my body, mostly my knees. But now that I have lost 27 pounds (still fight to lose those last 3 lbs), I feel so good, I am in the best shape of my life, my running is so much easier and faster, how can I not run? So I have signed up to run with a group that is training for the Eugene Marathon 29 April 2007. I am working for a personal best being that I ran the Country Music Marathon in 5 and 1/3 hours, that should not be hard to do! http://www.eugenemarathon.com/

Campus population gathers for world AIDS day - Online Only

1st Runner-up to Mrs. Oregon America 2007 - Clackamas High School was the setting for the 2007 Mrs Oregon America Pageant. The first in the season of Mrs America Pageants, eleven women competed Saturday Night, October 7 for the title of Mrs Oregon 2007.
The ladies ranged from 26 to 47, married 8 months to 23 years. It truly was an array like no other and the women not only shined, they resonated well with the judges. What a strong group, one judge was heard to have said. The evening started with an opening number choreographed by Mrs Oregon 2003, Patricia Nuttbrock, to We Are Family. Then the Jantzen Swimsuit Competition followed by the Evening Gown Competition all before intermission. As the 400 plus audience returned to their seat the emcee called all the former Mrs Oregon to stand one by one to celebrate 30 years of Mrs America. The earliest Mrs Oregon was also a Judge, Marsha Naegeli-Moody was Mrs Oregon 1990. Mrs Oregon's from 98, 99, 01, 03, 04, 05, and 06 not only support the program, are still involved in many other capacities.
After a wonderful tribute slideshow tribute presented by John McKibben, Mrs Oregon 2006's husband, it was time to announce the top 5. Taryn Stastny, Jennifer Willis, Trudi Newman, Joelle Rankins-Goodwin, and Kimberly Takla made the cut. They then changed into their opening number dresses and had an on stage interview with Las Vegas Radio Host, Chet Buchannan. Chet's amazing way of making the ladies feel comfortable allowed them the ability to have a wonderful conversation and show themselves to the audience and the judges. It was ANYONE'S game at this point.
National Champion and World Finalist Irish Dancer, Courtney Grogan provided talent while the scores were being tabulated by the auditor. The Director, Libby Crawford, presented several awards and also a check for $1600 to the Chris Dudley Foundation. The pageants goal was to raise $800 to send a child with juvenile diabetes to an intensive basketball camp where they learn to manage their insulin while playing a sport. The cost for one child to go to camp is $800. The money was raised from an online auction the pageant created on their website. They auctioned baskets that the ladies had created from each of their areas of representation. The baskets raised $1200 and Jennifer Willis of Elite Home Loans (also Mrs Southern Oregon) pitched in another $400 to the money raised so that we could send 2 children to camp. The basket that raised the most money received a Mini-Spa Day and that winner was Mrs Marion Co., Kathy Lynn Thompson raising $400!!
The time had come and the final number to Last Dance begun. One last look at all of the states semi finalist. Awards were given (see below) and then the top 5 were asked to step forward. Holding hands the top 5 were announced. 4th runner up, Jennifer Willis, Mrs Southern Or. 3rd runner up, Trudi Newman, Mrs Springfield. 2nd runner up, Taryn Stastny, Mrs Washington Co. and then there was two.
Joelle and Kimberly stepped forward as Chet made his tradition 1st runner up speech before announcing the winner. "And the 1st runner up is....Mrs Eugene, Joelle Rankins-Goodwin, that means Kimberly Takla is the New Mrs Oregon 2007"
Kimberly has a full year to prepared for the 2007 Mrs America Pageant next fall. She has dreamed of the moment ever since she was 18 when a mentor Victoria Jenkins (Mrs Oregon 1984) competed at Mrs America. "I worked so hard and am going give this title my all!" says Takla. Kimberly was the 1st runner up to Lisa Marie Menken in 2005. That seems to be the trend at Mrs Oregon's since director Libby Crawford took on the directorship, Angela Warren, Lisa Marie Menken, and Kimberly Takla were all 1st runners up and have come back the next year to win the title! Maybe the trend will continue for 1st runner up Joelle Rankins-Goodwin, this year's 1st runner up.
Evenings Awards:Most Ad Sales Joelle Rankins-GoodwinMost Ticket Sales Trudi NewmanMost Years Married Trudi NewmanPeople's Choice Award Michelle Hawkins(this award was based on the most cans collected showing support and Michelle's husband showed up with a whole flat bed truck filled!!! These cans of food go to the Oregon Food Bank.)Director's Award Joelle Rankins-Goodwin/Trudi NewmanMrs Photogenic Kimberly TaklaMrs Congeniality Jennifer WillisSpirit of Pageantry Award Shawna DyeNon Finalist Interview Shawna DyeNon Finalist Swimsuit Mariah EskoNon Finalist Evening Gown Malaika Johnston

The Big Weekend is here - So here I am heading up Interstate 5 once again, butthis time it's for keeps. The pageant is tomarrow night, I can't get anymore prepared, I've lost 27 pounds, the evening gown has been altered, the shoes have been worn in, I found the perfect brooch to wear on my suit; what don't I have? The perfect hair... I have no idea how I am going to wear my hair tomarrow, but I can't worry about it, I'll just have to see what happens. Well my chariot awaits....

Army Fatigues by day, Pageant gown by night - News

A Pictures Worth - a thousand words, so they say. I was "flipping through some other blogs, ans noticed that not everyone is as "stuck" on photographs like I am. I guess photos just say it for me. I am not as eloquent of a writer as I would like to be, in fact I am not a very good writer at all or should I say author, but I think that I have a good imagination and good thoughts, but putting them on paper is another thing, perhaps that is why I use photos. Photographs give you the visualization that I cannot put into words. If I don't already have a photo on file, to express what I am trying to say, I will go out and take a picture, or look for one on the Internet. You know I was going to get a minor in photography while in college, I actually started on it, but I'll be damned if I could get through my Art History class! So I never got the minor, but I did enjoy my photography classes. OK I'm tired and have nothing more to say, so I'll look for a picture to apply to this post.....

Charity Auction Basket - If you would like to bid on the package listed here go to the url listed below. It says that only Oregon residence can bid, but I will mail to out of state residence - but you must bid through the web-site. This is for the Mrs. Oregon America Pageant, and benefits the Chris Dudley Foundation, you can read about the foundation on the web-site. http://www.mrsoregon.net/My_Homepage_Files/Page5.html

The basket contains the following -

SIMPLE ADDITIONS
By The Pampered Chef ®
•2 Tiles design small bowls
•2 Tiles design small square plates
•2 Tiles design Napkin Set
•2 Tiles design Beaded Napkin Rings
•2 Tiles design Tiles Reversible Placemats
•Tiles design Reversible Table Runner
•Pampered Chef Wine Bottle Opener
•Pampered Chef Cooking for Two Cookbook
•Chipotle Ranch Seasoning mix
•1 Bottle 2002 Viognier wine from Griffin Creek vineyards
•2 U of O White Wine Glasses
•1 Pack of Oregon coasters
•Duck Chocolate for two
•U of O Hazelnuts
•U of O Tailgater Mustard
•“O” Football Antenna Ball
•2 Green and Gold Spirit Poms
•2 Football spirit necklaces
•2 University of Oregon T-Shirts
•2 Duck hats
•1 U of O Football helmet cling
•1 Oregon fleece blanket
•Oregon mini-football
•Stuffed quackin’ duck

For the true Oregon Duck fans or even the wanna be Duck fans

WHY ME? - If you will recall just about 2 weeks ago, I was on a bike ride and literally ran across or over the kamikaze squirrel (see Sept 13 post). Well, this past Sunday I was out on a walk near a pond with Bob, he was a head of me a bit, as I walked through the uncut grass, I stepped down on a Garter Snake?!!!!! It was fine, it stuck its long red tongue out at me and then slithered on down the hill towards the water. But again I must ask; why me? The girl that brings stray animals into her home to feed them, the girl that will pick up a dead cat or dog on the side of the road to give it a proper burial, the girl that will wreck her car to avoid hurting what ever furry creature may be trying to cross the road. I just don't get it. Perhaps there is a lesson in the fact that I have stepped on or ridden over these animals and they were still able to "get up and go". I'm not sure what that lessone is, perhaps I'll figure it out in time.

I want to Grow Wine - Ok well you know what I mean, I want to grow grapes and make wine. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be the next Chateau Ste. Michelle or even the next Ernest and Julio Gallo. This notion started sometime ago, I mean everyone and their brother is making wine now, right? And I sure am drinking my share of it, so why not try my hand at making my own, I might save myself some money and have fun at the same time. Now I may be adding this to my list of hobbies that have fallen by the wayside, but I would at least like to give it a try. This past Sunday after church Bob said "let's go for a Sunday drive". Ian was not really into it, I am sure whatever was going to be on Cartoon Network was much more exciting to him, but too bad, we were off. I had no idea that Bob had a particular drive in mind, but off we went to the Lane County - Willamette Valley, heck I don't know what they call it - Wine country, and I will be darned if it's not practically right out my back door!!! Rows and rows and more rows of grapes and these wine tasting places HEAVEN, absolute HEAVEN!!! I had to wonder to myself (out loud), if you could actually eat those grapes, you know were they bitter, sweet, sour what? Well I had my question answered after we pulled into the first winery called "Sweet Cheeks", they were the new kids on the block they'd only been open a few months. I asked if one could eat the grapes hanging from the vines, they actually gave us two bunches, one red, one white. In case you didn't know the grapes aren;like the ones you buy down at Safeway, they are really small, about the size of an eraser head, but I guess it also depends on what kind wine you are going to make with them as to their size. Wow and mmmmmm, the grapes were very good. Ian who hardly had anything to eat was starving so he took the bunches of grapes outside and ate them as he looked out on the country side and what a sight it was, just beautiful.
I on the other hand stood inside and enjoyed the the flavors of seven different bottles of wine, you know just tastes, not whole glasses or bottles. We bought one bottle a riesling my favorite. We stopped at one other winery and I talked to Ed, the guy serving the wine, not an Oregonian, but a New Yorker. Don't ask me the name of the place, I forget, the wine was good, I bought a bottle of muscat, kind of like champaine but without so many bubbles. OK So here is the point it was nice afternoon, a beautiful drive. We are still eating on the two bunches of grapes that we got, but as I eat them I am spitting the seeds out and putting them on a paper towels, one marked red, one marked white. I hope to take my little seeds and plant them, but I am not sure how, and have not had time to research growing "wine grapes", so there they sit on the kitchen counter. Soon they may get thrown away, or perhaps they will mold or shrivel up and die before I can get to them, but for now I will maintain a dream of creating Joelle's little vineyard in my backyard, who knows onw day I may be calling my friends to come over for a "grape stomp".

Overworked-Overwhelmed- My good friend Laura said to me today, "update your blog". I new from the beginning that I am terrible about keeping a diary. The creative juices don't flow, the thoughts are just not there, and I am just too tired sometimes. But I do enjoy it when I can write something thoughtful or funny and share it with others. So when I started writing this blog the purpose was to follow my steps leading up to the Mrs. Oregon America Pageant, so let's talk about that. Here I am September 13th, the pageant is less than one month away. I have been feeling so confident about all that I have done to prepare up to this point. I bought the dress of my dreams, for about 75% less than I could have gotten it off the rack. I have been a size 10 to 14 usually a 12 for about as long as I can remember. My evening gown for the pageant is a size 6!!! I bought a suit for the interview portion of the pageant; a size 12, it is currently with the seamstress being taken in to fit on my now size 6/8 body. I am 42 years old, and I guess I should not be ashamed to say that I look and feel pretty damn good for my age, I am actually in the best shape of my life. I've never been obese, just at times heavier than I wanted to be, uncomfortable at times. So now here I am, I joined Weight-Watchers about 26 weeks ago, I have lost about 20 pounds in that time and like I said have gone from a size 12 to fitting pretty good in a size 8. So what is the big deal you might be wondering? It's a transition. I am afraid to go out and buy new clothes. At the WW meetings they talk about each milestone and rewarding yourself for reaching a milestone. I have a problem with that for some reason, I did buy two pairs of black pants because I needed them to wear to pageant appearances, that is how I found out I was in a size 8, but other than that, I am swishing around in clothes that are too big for me. Perhaps because I have not been this small for at least 25 years, perhaps because I have tried just about every diet in the book, and gained all lost weight back, perhaps I am waiting for another failure. Perhaps I just want to wait and see if it sticks, will I stay this size and weight? I love it, I feel great, I still have 8 pounds to lose, but that is another frustrating subject for discussion on another day. My husband calls me his "incredible shrinking wife". I wanted to lose weight, so that I would feel better, my motivation to get started was the pageant, I truly hated the thought of joining WW but I needed a kick in the butt and now I am happy that I did. So in less than 4 weeks, I will be parading my size 8 butt, (that will never go away), up on stage in a swim suit. How do I feel? I usually contain my excitement, I don't like to peak too early, I am anxious, a little nervous, and quite overwhelmed in some ways because I still have a lot to accomplish before 7 October. But I am prepared, I don't know why I love to do pageants, why do I put myself through this craziness? Again, that is a discussion for another day.

kamikaze Squirrel - yesterday I was on a bike ride with a group of people that I work with, there were four of us and we had about 10 minutes left to our ride; as we rode through Alton Baker park, I was riding in the middle of the pack and watched as a beautiful, cuddly, grey squirrel ran directly into the path of our bicycles, I watched in slow motion horror as "Rocky the Squirrel", ran directly under my front tire! Thump-thump. I gave a very typical "girl" scream and stopped my bike, as the guys roared with laughter. I looked back and thank goodness Rocky had hopped up, brushed himself off and ran up the nearest tree, he caught my eye as if to say, "it's OK sister, I know you didn't mean to run me over". But I felt terrible, of all the people in the group to have a run in with the wildlife, why did it have to be me? If I see a spider in the house, I am more apt to pick it up and put it outside, than I am to kill it. Of all the folks in the group, why did it have to be me...the only girl, who of course had to give out this huge shriek. Of course I was ribbed at work all day about "killing the squirrel", and I did worry all day about whether he was hurt at all. When I got home I got no sympathy, my husband wanted to know if I had brought the body home for dinner. I'll never look at a squirrel the same way again. I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to ride my bike through the park again without the fear of maiming the wildlife. Well to Rocky the Squirrel wherever you are, I'm sorry I ran you over, and I don't mind if you and your cousins continue to dig up my backyard hiding and digging up your peanuts.

Our friends the crawdad and newt.

Ian and moms first outing to the golf course together.

And What a Labor Day it Was - It was my intention to get up early this morning, and go for a nice long bike ride with Bob and then back home and take Ian to the golf course, which is what he wanted to do for Labor Day. Well I woke up much earlier than I had intended...0830, by the time I got myself together it was about 1000, so I decided to change plans - lets do something exercise wise that we all can partake in. You see Ian has this really cool BMX bike that he has had for almost 3 years and it is way too small for him, and he has a hard time keeping up with us on long bike rides, therefore Master Ian is due for a new bicycle, I just haven't gotten around to it. So instead of a bicycle ride for two, we went on a hike for three. Bob immediately had something in mind the Brice Creek Trail off of Interstate 5 and Cottage Grove about 40 minutes out of Eugene.

What a beautiful day for a hike, and the trail was more than we could ask for, just perfect. In all we hiked about 6 miles, and we found a wonderful swimming hole, like I had never seen before, it is my intention to go back and hang out there, before the summer is over. When I am out in the "wilderness", I want to see "wild animals", OK nothing too crazy, like lions and tigers and bears (oh my). We were not disappointed today. The first thing we saw was what we thought was snake skin. I saw this stuff that just had to be snake skin, but we kept seeing more and more of it, and Bob picked some up and said, "yup, looks like snake skin to me", but then we saw moreand more of it, and we were thinking that is one big snake! It was actually getting kind of creepy as to how big this snake or snakes had to be...... then we came to the conclusion that it wasn't snake skin at all, but it was some sort of leaves that had fallen. The snake story was more exciting though.
Along the way we came across several streams and waterfalls, and so I and I searched for some sort of wildlife, the first "friend" that we came across was a crawdad, I've eaten crawfish, but never seen one in the wild. It's always nice to have Bob along on outings because he is the brave one and willing to pick up the creepy crawly things......
We then saw a Oregon Newt, really cool!!!! Bob, disrobed, to jump into the water and get the newt so that I could see it up close and personal....MY hero. What a great hike we had.
My promise to Ian was that we would go golfing afterwards and that we did after a bit of a break and a snack at home, I took Ian to the driving range at Fiddler's Green. Now I haven't played golf in about 11 years, hhhmmm, Ian is just over 11 years old, you can figure that one out - it's called no time. But his grandfather got him excited about playing golf when he stayed with him last month and now he wants to play, with the promise from Papa that he will get a brand new set of Junior clubs if he continues his interest in golf.... so we shall see. Almost 10 PM, I am ready to fall out in the floor, but think that I can make it to my bed....... Not sure what excitement tomorrow holds, but it will be another busy day....

Mrs. Oregon America Contestant photos from Portland Rose Festival Week and the National Anthem Project - June 2006

GAME DAY!!!!!! - Well a group of my most favorite people in the world joined me today for the first Duck game of the season. The University of Oregon Ducks vs the Stanford Cardinals? The Trees?? hell I don't know what they are called, but does it really matter? What matters is the final score 48 - 10 Oregon!!!!! I went with my husband, my father-in-law, my son, my dad and my step-mom. We did not all get to sit together, but it was a great game and a great way to start the football season!!!!, I enjoyed it, I got mildly sunburned as did the rest of the family. Blanche (the dog) put on her U of O t-shirt first thing this morning - The U of O guidon hung proudly in front of the house, my fire hydrant was standing tall. We all had on our Duck Gear. I am soooooo happy to not just be at home in Oregon, but to be in Eugene, Oregon. What a Feeling!!!
Well I was slightly disappointed because I did not get my exercise in this morning (or so I thought), but we wound up walking to Autzen Stadium, it's about a 1 mile walk and we were in good company, plenty of folks were heading towards Martin Luther King jr. Blvd. dressed in Green and yellow. The temperature went well above 90 degrees today, and we all made sure to take in plenty of water, that helped but I felt dizzy quite a few times as I jumped up yelling like a fool. But I do suppose with the walk to and from the stadium, in the heat, I will count myself good for exercise. Tomorrow is a holiday, lets see if I can drag my lazy butt out of bed for a long bike ride..... better yet, let's see if I can drag my husband's lazy butt out of bed to join me for a bike ride!!! GLAD TO BE in DUCK COUNTRY!!!

So here we are Mrs. Eugene and Mrs. Springfield at the University of Oregon/Springfield Chamber of Commerce 10th anniversary Tailgater Auction. What a BLAST. I had so much fun and got so into the spirit of the season. It was great to have my good friend Trudi Newman there to join me. "Sisters in the sister cities!!!"

Crazy He Calls Me- My son called me crazy, my pezo, partner in crime and craziness for 11 years. He actually said, "I think my mother has lost her mind". Well maybe I have but I had fun doing it. But I live in Eugene, Oregon now and I have been hit with the fever...DUCK FEVER and last night at the University of Oregon Tailgater Auction it struck me how excited I am for football season to start tomorrow. How excited am I? So excited that I came home with a fire hydrant. Yes, a real like 200 pound fire hydrant painted green and yellow. And so the next logical question was, "so where are we going to put this fire hydrant?" Well in the front yard of course, I was planning to wheel it out on game days and keep it in my "Duck room" at other times but it really is heavy, it may just stay where it is. So when you come to visit, you won't have any problem finding my house, it's the one with the green and yellow fire hydrant in front if it. Geeeezzz, I love Oregon.

Bright and Early - Well getting moving first thing in the morning is quite helpful. I was up at 0600 (that's 6AM), now if I could only do that on a regular basis. In a week or so I won't have much choice, going back to work will force me to be up by 0530. I enjoyed a quick but scenic bike ride this morning to the small town of Coburg, population 969, so the sign says as you enter into town. The scenery was beautiful, but the traffic really sucks, riding on a main road between Eugene and Coburg, it was rush hour, and the cars and big trucks just zoomed by. Sometimes I feel like cars are betting as to how close they can get to me on my bike without actually knocking me over. I mean most cars will guide out to the middle of the road and around a cyclist, but then there are those who just plain and simply swerve right towards me and my bike. I try not to take it personally, I give people the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they were just changing the radio station or picking something up off of the floor, maybe they are staring at my wide butt up on that bicycle seat in amazement, I'm not sure what it is, but I sure wish the cars would stay in their lane, and I will stay in mine. I kind of like my wide butt and the legs attached to it, so I'd like to leave them in tact, I don't think tire tread marks across my legs will look very good up on stage in a swimsuit. Well did I get off on a tangent? I was talking about the town of Coburg, population 969. It's a small and I do suppose historic town in someway, with lots of antique shops, a pizza parlor/video store and really, really nice and modern looking fire station that seemed kind of out of place. I knew my ride would be short as Coburg is only about 7 miles outside of Eugene, so I road through town to add a few miles. The next town beyond is Harrisburg, (12 miles more), I didn't ride all the way in to Harrisburg, because I knew I had too much to do today, but I did turn around and on my way back stopped for a Chai Tea at a cute little coffee shop in Coburg. I really needed because apparently it wasn't even 50 degrees this morning and I was feeling it, my hands were frozen. So the day is off to a good start, it is going on 10:00 and I feel as if I have accomplished something. Now it is down to the business of putting the house together and getting ready for tonight's auction.

Lack of Inspiration - I'm overwhelmed by all of the tasks that I need and should do. When this happens and it is often I usually wind up not doing anything. I haven't worked out in about 4 days. I have been in my new home for about 5 months, I have company coming on Saturday and I still have boxes that need to be moved out of the living room, (in my defense my mom just moved in with us 1 month ago and this created more mess after our move). I want to get into my back yard and get digging and planting done, I've got a garage sale to plan, so that hopefully when winter comes the garage will be empty and I can actually use the garage for what it is meant....PARKING. I have some volunteer work that I am doing and have a task to do for an auction that I am helping with on Thursday. I promised Ian that we would ride our bikes to his new school, so that he could plan out his daily route, the bird cage needs cleaning the cats boxes need cleaning. There is more, but here is the kicker.... I am on vacation! So I have plenty of time to get these things accomplished, I'm experiencing a "Lack of Mo", motivation that is. It's that whole procrastination thing that I am so good at, waiting until the last minute. I keep telling myself that I am going to get out of bed early and go workout, but each morning of my "vacation", I seem to wake up a little later. And so here I sit, "playing" on my computer, before I know it the day will be half gone and I will have gotten nothing accomplished. What should I do first? I'm out of Redbull, I've had two cups of coffee, but it just doesn't satisfy me the way Redbull does, just one can it is all that I need. OK here it is I will get my workout clothes on, Ian just woke up, I am going to try to convince him to go on a bike ride, to the store for a Redbull, then to his new school, then up to campus to do the work for the auction.....that will be a good start, we'll see what happens from there.

A Bullbog Birthday - So what do you get a Bulldog for her birthday?..... Anything she wants. Today is Blanche Belle Reve DuBois' 2nd birthday .
Blanche was born in Birmingham, Alabama and she has become the second child that I wanted to have, so yes, she is spoiled. So today we went all out for her birthday. Big brother Ian baked a dog bone shaped cake for her complete with icing. After cutting off ever so small slices for those humans brave enough to try the cake we set it on the ground for Blanche to dig into. There is one problem with Blanche, she does not know when to quit so she ate the whole thing.
Having been born in Alabama you would think that Blanche's favorite phrase would be "Roll-Tide", but Blanche comes from the linage of the Georgia Bulldogs, so she prefers "Go Dawgs", that was until we moved home to Oregon, we are now in the process of re-training Blanche so that she barks, when she hears "GO DUCKS". To help here with her training, we have had to out-fit her with the proper attire, and so today she recieved her University of Oregon leash and her official U of O game day T-shirt. She is one good looking dog.


It is about 9PM Blanche seems to be slightly immobile now, lying on the floor like a stuffed pig. I sure do hope that the birthday cake doesn't decide to make it's way through her little body long about midnight or later, waking me from my slumber.....hhhhmmm maybe letting her eat all of that cake wasn't such a good idea. Oh well it was fun to watch.


You can check out Blanche's web-page here - http://www.dogster.com/?211885

So after the long bike ride I took the next day off. Today my inspiration is the kids. I haven't run in a little over a week so I am heading to Hayward Field to do some sprints around the track. I told my son that he could come with me if he wanted, it is time to shake out some of those summer time, too many video games, too much TV, and late nights cobwebs in preparation for school. He said he wanted to, so it is time to get him up and going. He's got 10 minutes before I start making noise and ratteling him out of bed, which gives me enough tie to grab my morning Red Bull and get dressed.

Ian joined me for a run around historic Hayward Field and boy was I proud of him. Not only did he run a pretty fast mile with me, in between laps we ran the stairs and did a few push-ups and crunches. Who knows maybe I have a budding track star on my hands. But already the 11 year old sounds like an old man, he's complaining about his knee hurting. It wasn't the hard workout that I needed, but it was well worth it, to be able to spend time doing something I love with Ian.

Whew, well I am worn out, but glad that I finally made it out the door, I feel better about myself, not such a slug. I finished up with 35 miles today on my bicycle, and at my turn around point met a couple of friends pictured here. Wednesday I am giving myself the day off!

Intestinal fortitude? Stick-to-it-tiveness? Tenacity? What is the word I am looking for? Motivation? That's a good one. Motivation or the LACK of motivation. Procrastination an excellent word. I procrastinate, that is why I am sitting here at this desk typing instead of out exercising. The funny thing is there is nothing standing in my way. I've got my workout clothes on; everyone in the house is still asleep, I don't even have to work today. I got up at 0600 hours for the sole purpose of going for long bike ride, here I am 1 1/2 hours later and I haven't stepped foot outside. I've popped my Hydroxy-Cut, now I'm sipping on a Red Bull, pretty soon if I don't get going I'll be bouncing off the walls. So what is my motivation for exercising? You would think it would be easy, I love the results! I have lost 20 in about 5 months, I look great and feel great, but why do I find it so hard to keep going? When I have a goal in sight a beauty pageant, a marathon, whatever, I will work my butt off to reach that goal and then after it is over......I lay off from my diet and working out and wind up back where I started. It is very maddening. I get so frustrated with myself, I need a kick in the butt, but there is no one to push me but my self. So.... I'm pushing myself away from the computer, right out the door. It's time to face the bike.