Well, it’s officially December, which means I can officially listen to Christmas music! It wouldn’t be Christmas without a little Straight No Chaser “12 Days Of Christmas”. I know, not traditional, but this song never fails to make me laugh and get me into the Christmas spirit. Happy Friday!
Year: 2013
In Memoriam: Nelson Mandela
Today the world lost a wonderful man. Today the world lost Nelson Mandela. In college I took a South African Literature class and learned a lot about South Africa and apartheid. Not only was he a man who showed extreme courage and stood up for what he believed was right, he also had a remarkable lack of anger over the injustice done to him (hello, 27 years of incarceration?!). He was a man who actually practiced what he preached.
More than anything, to me, Nelson Mandela embodied peace. And he’s credited with some amazingly inspiring quotes:
- “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – seriously, this is how I feel about my marathon!
- “A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.”
- “Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.”
- “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
- “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”
- “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
What is amazing is how the South African people are reacting. While, as expected, there are tears, the South African people celebrating Mandela’s life by singing, dancing, and sharing his message of love and peace. I truly hope his legacy continues and that his message of peace and love continues to get propagated around the world. While the world lost a wonderful man today, God gained a very special soul. Rest in peace, Nelson Mandela.
He REALLY Loves Me!
The “he” that I refer to is my husband.
How much is “REALLY”?
Well, he’s about to fulfill one of my biggest, most long running dream.
If you’ve known me for any amount of time, you’ll know that I love animals. Almost all of them (I’m sure there’s some reason to love the skunk and the snake, but I haven’t found it yet). I spent a great deal of my childhood wanting to be a veterinarian and have had pets galore. There has always been one that was at the top of both the proverbial and literal (ie. birthday/Christmas) lists. One that I’ve wanted more than anything, but have never had.
That’s right, a horse.
He’s buying me a horse. An honest to God, breathing, living, 1000+ pound horse.
I am so excited that I think my head might explode. More to come friends… stay tuned for a ton of obnoxious horse-related posts. 🙂
40!!!
Last night I threw Mike a 40th birthday party. It was supposed to be a poker party, but we did not end up playing a single hand of poker. What we did do was eat a ton of food, drink a lot of booze, and just have an overall really fun time.
The singing of “Happy Birthday” and blowing out of candles was preceded by a shot. I asked someone to take pictures as I had what seemed like a brilliant idea…
Needless to say, the favor was returned:
The party was seriously a good time… it was great to have so many people come out and celebrate Mike!
Favorite Song Friday – “Red”
Over the past year or so, I’ve begun to doubt Taylor Swift. Her music has become more and more pop, which is fine, but then it makes me mad when she wins country awards. Not to mention she’s not exactly amazing live.
My thoughts about her changed a little bit with her performance of “Red” on the Country Music Awards a couple of weeks ago. I’ve liked the song from the beginning with all of its great color references.
Losing him was blue like I’d never known
Missing him was dark grey all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you’ve never met
But loving him was red
Loving him was red
This acoustic, harmonized version featuring Allison Krauss and Vince Gill is absolutely stunning and I can’t get enough of it! Happy Friday!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Every year when it comes time for Thanksgiving, I feel a little guilty. Why, you ask? Well, I have almost nothing that I’m not thankful for. I don’t mean that in the spoiled brat kind of way… I just mean that I have a really great life. I’m married to be best man ever, I have great parents, the best sister ever, the cutest nieces & nephews, the best friends in the world, and just about the greatest in-laws anyone could ask for. Oh, and a kick ass dog. We’re healthy, we work hard, and we play hard. Life is pretty darned good!
One of our new traditions is to participate in the Sacramento Run To Feed The Hungry. It’s a 5k/10k fun run and walk that reached its 20th year this year.
As with every organized race, there are always some creative people in costume. There was one girl who was dressed as a turkey and had a bunch of friends dressed as chefs carrying cleavers. Very cute. This man was by far my favorite:
Might as well be comfy! The coffee mug was an added touch! The walk/run was a lot of fun – the weather could not have been more beautiful! After that we headed back to Kati’s house (someone had to cook the turkey!) and I hung out there for a bit. Then I headed over to Mike’s grandma’s for Thanksgiving dinner. As always, it was delicious and I’m so lucky to have been able to spend time with both sides of my family today! I hope you all had a wonderful day!
Ride Off Into The Sunset
If my father-in-law had his way, retirement would have gone something like this: quietly turn in the keys to the truck, head home, enjoy the rest of life with the family. He is an extremely private and humble man. Unfortunately for him, the family was not about to let him ride off into the sunset without some sort of spectacular sendoff last weekend.
You see, my father-in-law spent the last forty-three years as a firefighter. Not just any firefighter at that – he helped shape much of the system as it is today in Amador County. He’s sort of a big deal. And it runs in the blood – both of his sons are firefighters, as is his son-in-law. Needless to say, there were a lot of people who wanted to come out and help celebrate Raymond. Right around three hundred, to be exact.
In true Blankenheim style, we roasted a pig. And made tri-tip. And barrel chicken. Because it’s not really a party unless you have at least three types of meat. Probably one of the highlight of the nights was the Great Pig Fire of 2013. I’ve been a part of this family for five years now and have seen many a pig roasted… never have I seen one actually ignite…
Apparently no one else in the family had either… about twenty firefighters stood and watched in awe before springing into action.
When all was said and done, it was a great party for a great man. I can only hope that someday I discover I’ve had a positive impact on the lives of half as many people as Raymond has. Congratulations Raymond!
Sayonara Toenails
Well, the inevitable has happened. I managed to avoid it for the entire first time I trained for and ran a marathon, but no such luck this time around.
I’m officially losing toenails. That’s right, toenails as in more than one. Two to be exact. No, you don’t have to worry about me actually posting pictures of said toenails… I will spare you the gory details. Just know that there are two that are not going to be there very soon. The good thing is it does’t really hurt… they get sore, they turn colors, and well, that’s it. Maybe that’s because I’m dealing with all of the other running pains and that’s just the lesser of evils. Either way.
All of that fun stuff said, I can’t believe that marathon #2 is next week. As in 12 days away. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. Training has definitely been different this time around. I’m much more aware of my body and much less stressed about the little things. I’ve actually gotten to the point that I can enjoy the scenery on my longer runs. And I’ve figured out those terrible “tummy troubles” that I had a lot of last time. My only issue this time around (besides the toenail thing) is this annoying cold that I can’t seem to kick. Hopefully that clears up in the next few days (fingers crossed!) and I can take this marathon by storm!!!
Leap Of Faith
Today was a pretty mellow day in the Blankenheim household… mostly spent recovering from my father-in-law’s retirement party. Stay tuned for a post on that once I feel a little better. This cold is still kicking my booty, so I tried to do some relaxing today. That said, I needed a little movement, so I headed out to a much neglected section of my yard to fix some sprinklers and move a few leaves. It turned out to be a pretty big pile… hard to tell in the picture because Mike was on the deck when it took it, but they came up to just above my waist.
And, once you rake up a pile of leaves, there’s only one thing left to do:
Now, mid-leap of faith, Mike yelled out something along the lines of “it might not be as soft as you think”, so I decided against the face plant. Instead, I landed feet first.
Sometimes, even when you’re sick, you need to take some time to indulge your inner child! Happy Fall everyone!
Favorite Song Friday – “Royals”
This week’s favorite song is “Royals” by Lorde. This song is almost always on the radio right now and I love it. That and Kati and I had a conversation about it in which we sang it in Chloe’s voice (which is high pitched and squeaky according to the two of us). Which was then followed by this adorable picture posted to my Facebook page along with the “Royals” lyrics. I just about died.
Enjoy and happy Friday!
Down The Road I Go 