Catching Up

Wow, time really does fly when you're busy. Not to mention, it seems that blogging unfortunately begins to take a backseat when summer life revs up.

Yeah, I've noticed...I haven't had an blog entry in the last couple of weeks. That's just so wrong in so many ways, and I'm sorry. In my weak defense, it isn't that I have been purposefully neglecting my online habit. It's only that I've been deluged with so much lately. For example, here are how my past week or so has been filled recently:

• Both my kids, Hannah (5) and Joshua (3), began their year-round school programs in the past week or so. Hannah is officially a kindergartner, enjoying all her new school has to offer (particularly both art and music classes) and giddily riding the bus with her little friends to and from school. We are very proud of her and her big accomplishment! Joshua, the big boy that he is, launched his school career by attending his first preschool class last Wednesday. Needless to say, he quickly found a home with his little classmates and is loving the new experiences. Both in school already? Sigh…time sure does move by fast...
  
  
• More & more camping...you can never spend enough time camping during the summer months. This year certainly has not been an exception to that seasonal rule. I think, if I'm counting on both my fingers and toes correctly, we have camped as a family a total of 19 days now this year. That's enough for my kids to continually ask the silly question of, "so are we sleeping at home or in the camper this weekend?" And believe me, they would rather sleep in the camper if they had their choice! Of course, the Minnesota backwoods have been our favorite by far this year, but we're always on the lookout for new state parks and campgrounds to explore.
  
  
• The county fair started up last week and we spent a fun-filled night entertaining both the children and ourselves with smelly excursions through the livestock barns and 4H buildings, while also sidestepping gracious amounts of mud and animal manure along the way. We were obviously thrilled to attend an outdoor exhibition of horse pole-racing, eat our weights in delecable fair foods (BBQ is still my favorite), and spend an unlimited amount of time with the midway's kid rides. I cannot believe my little girl loves riding both the Zendor (you know, the one that uses centrifugal force to keep you in your standing position while it tilts 90 degrees?) and Scrambler rides...awesome, just like her Dad. Let's just say that was a LATE night for us all.
  
  
• The annual National Balloon Classic has started once again. For a week each year, our city plays hosts to one of the most beautiful array of hot air ballooning events this nation has to offer. Close to a hundred of these take off in our skies daily for tournaments of skill and mastery, as well as a few special nights filled with stunning "Fire in the Sky" visual displays for the oogling masses. And I've been lucky enough to have been chosen again as a balloon chase volunteer by a good friend of mine and his balloon crew for the second year in a row. Though it is tough work for roughly 5-6 hours each evening, the experience is priceless. I mean, where else can you have the chance to be so up and close with these beautiful behemoths and not pay hundreds of dollars?

As well as my house-sitting for my parents home while they were away visiting my sister in Los Angeles for two weeks, a parade and craft show on the square for the balloon celebration, trying to stem whatever flooding might still occur from the uncharacteristic rainfall that is still soaking our state (I won't even go into what I found the cause to be for my basement woes and the nasty fix it is needing), and a seemingly endless running schedule still pointing me towards my up-and-coming NYC excursion this fall, like I said...being busy is a fairly lame excuse, huh?

Okay, a few cool things I've learned about which us runners can look forward to…

• Here's a race for the world…it's the Nike Human Race 10K. Join a million other runners just like you for a worldwide 10K event like no other to be held on August 31, 2008. You can either run in one of 25 designated cities around the world (I'd prefer Paris to cornfields myself), or you can "just run" where you are. Be sure to see their web site for details on how you can join in.
  
  
• UltraMarathon Man is coming. What is this, you say? Apparently, endurance athlete Dean Karnazes has made a movie about, what else, running. It involves 50 Marathons, in 50 States, in 50 Days. I'm sure many of you have already heard something about that recently. The movie features Dean in his attempt to cover the unhuman distance in an insane amount of time to raise awareness for youth obestisty as well as inspire thousands across the country to join him along the path and take "the next step." For a quick peek at the upcoming theatre release, check out the video below.