26.2... "no biggie" - for a mother of five, a grandma, a wife, employee x 2, and the other million things my incredible mother has on her plate....
Yesterday, I was able to witness the 2009 Chicago Marathon as a spectator - I decided to take the year off and cheer on my mom. While, I won't type her age, when you become a grandma and can run a marathon, well, that is something else. She is one incredible, strong, determined and dedicated woman and most importantly, I am glad to have her as someone I look up to. This is my mom's third consecutive and fifth marathon total. Not many women her age can do that. So, three cheers for you, mom.
Watching from the start line was bittersweet for me. I really did enjoy taking the year off (wedding, new husband, new job, new house... ;) ). However, being a part of something like that and understanding what those 45,000 runners were going through made me tear up. I played "Amazing Race" by myself for the majority of the morning and I finally got to
LaSalle near Moody, only to miss my mom by like 2 minutes. She was
runnin' like a cheetah...
I risked my life, actually the lives of the marathon runners, and crossed the street to get to Wells (the other side of Moody) to meet my mom there. Once I was there, our plan was for me to finish the last 14.5 miles with my mom. While waiting for her to come, Candace, Madeline, Kerry and Ethan met up with me. It was FREEZING and not much fun for an 11 month old... poor guy.
Finally, the running star appeared and I joined the fun....I told my mom while we were running, "So, this is what the last half of the marathon is suppose to look like..."
[Note: 2007 and 2008 were two of the hottest marathons in the history of the 32 Chicago Marathons on record & I don't do so well in heat....]It was a great, easy and chilly run with my mom. Perfect weather for a marathon. I enjoyed finishing the marathon and getting a medal at the end so I didn't look too
suspicious....
So, congratulations mom. You are incredible. Another Chicago Marathon checked off. Now that she is taking 2010 off, anyone interested in training for next year's marathon with me? 10.10.10? Neat, huh?
Kissable Cheeks
He is so cute... now, we have a lot to live up to. Thanks Ry and Ker for being so "ridiculously good looking."
I am gonna go with Ryan's Teeth Genes on this one... 
As you can tell, he really loves his Auntie Dani and Uncle Joey. 
