It's a North Georgia Runners' Christmas!
My running group came over Saturday night for our first holiday party. We participated in our favorite pastimes...eating and drinking...and exchanged presents. What a great way to end an amazing year! This evening was also special because I introduced my "brothers" to Patrick...the man I've been dating for the past month. Big moment! Corey gave him the "he's ok" seal of approval! It was a great night!

Corey "Speed Racer" and Dieter with their gifts.

Jo with one of our newest members, John

Daniel's sons provided the entertainment on Guitar Hero.


Jo and Corey taking their turn!

Here's Patrick...the man makes a killer candy cane martini...plus he's just super cute!!!

Go Team Grampie!

Erika and I headed out early this morning for my first half marathon. The race started at 7 a.m. and it was incredibly cold and very windy. I felt great the first nine miles. The course was flat, the wind was at our backs and the scenery was gorgeous. At each mile marker Erika would announce our split and we'd give each other knucks and yell "Go Team Grampie." Dedicating this race to our grandfather took the focus off our individual accomplishment and made it greater than our singular effort. Our race was dedicated to a man that never gives up, always keeps pushing ahead no matter how difficult things get. It made it much easier to keep going, knowing that we were running in his honor. And we needed that inspiration after we hit mile nine when we saw our nemesis looming out in front of us. The bridge that would carry us to Manteo, where the race finishes, was very steep and long and there was a fierce cross wind. We decided we needed to HTFU and power that bad boy out. When we reached the top the feeling I had was amazing. We did it. The most difficult part of the entire course and we killed it. Awesome. Of course, I couldn't have predicted that we would run the last several miles with the cold wind blowing against us. That completely sucked. We had committed to finishing the race together and, if it wasn't for Erika's cheerleading the last mile-and-a-half, I think I would have fallen down and cried. Would have been nice if I'd actually trained like I should have! We crossed over the mile 13 (in the pics below) and I couldn't even garner any excitement. I was completely focused on putting one foot in front of the other and finishing this bad boy. We came around the corner...the finish was in sight...even then, no emotion, just focus...step, breathe, step...Erika reached for my hand and we ran holding hands as people cheered "Go Team Grampie" and crossed the finish together. It was an awesome moment and one I'll never forget. My official time was 2:18.41 and Erika took almost a minute off her time from last year. Go Team GRAMPIE!!!

Touring OBX
Our morning began with a walk along the beach. It was beautiful outside, but oh that water was cold! We met up with Erika's friends for lunch (super yummy fish tacos) and headed over to the expo to pick up our race packets. From there, we went to Manteo to check out the race finish. Now we're hanging out at the hotel resting up for our big run tomorrow. Go Team Grampie!

Team Grampie

North Georgia Runners!!!!

I spotted this little round thing on the beach and noticed that it was moving. I called "biology sis" over to take a look. Turns out it was a little sea cucumber. She threw it back into the sea so it could find its way home.

Shadow Sisters

At the expo

This is the happiest I'm gonna look at mile 13!

Once we checked out the course, we headed into Manteo for a cup of hot cider. Then I relaxed in an oversize aidriondrack chair.


Me with the hot guy I met at the coffee shop.

Sistopher Columbus
On our way to North Carolina, Erika and I got a little turned around with our directions. Would we find our way? Dun, Dun, Da, Dun...Sistopher Columbus to the rescue! We found a new route and made it to the new world (aka Outer Banks) safely.

We're hear to run the OBX 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. We decided that to keep focused and remain inspired all 13.1 miles, we needed to dedicate the race to someone. So....Team Grampie was born. We both have a tremendous amount of love and respect for our grandfather and it's only fitting that we dedicate a race to him. He's had a rough several months, but his strength of spirit carries him through. We made our 'Team Grampie' shirts tonight. We run Sunday morning at 7 a.m. Go Team!

Irish Pub Meets Belgian Beer...and um, a Belgian!
Saturday night I met Corey and Dieter out at a local Irish pub to enjoy some Belgian beer. Sounds crazy, right? It was a little!

Giggles...who knew taking self portraits could be so fun!

Smoochies! Seriously, how lucky am I?

Awwww, super chuties!

Last Run of the Season
Saturday's Regional meet was "do or die" for the guys cross country team. In order to compete in the state meet they had to finish fourth. All seven varsity runners ran tough -- everyone finishing with their best time of the season and Brett and Cameron broke school records. You can't ask for any more than that! Unfortunately, the team placed seventh in the region and won't be competing in the state competition next week. The season is over and I'm sad to see it end. It's been a wonderful experience for Colton and we both look forward to next year! Blogger seems to be having some technical issues and loading more photos is not possible right now. I'll try to get more up later when it's working again.



And they're off! I had an awesome action shot of Colton and mistakenly deleted it when I was trying to load it to the blog. Every time I saw him on the course I yelled "HTFU" (inspired by our cousin, the Ironman, JW) and he really pushed it...he finished with a personal best time of 18:04!

After the race with Kaleigh.

Homecoming

There are moments in my life that I know I will cherish forever. Last night was one of those moments for me. I love being dude's mom -- through the good and the not so good -- and am proud and in awe of him every day of his life. Watching him grow into such an amazing young man well, it overwhelms me. The pride and love and joy are just so intense on nights like last night that my cup truly runneth over, all is right in my world and my heart is just so happy. It's bittersweet watching him change into a young man. I long for the days when he was little and would snuggle with me in his feetie jammies while we read books, I could tuck him into bed and watch him sleep...where I was in control of setting limits and what he was exposed to. Now I have to trust that all those millions of little things add up to creating a young man that has self respect, treats others with kindness and can make good decisions when everyone around him isn't.

Last night was like watching all of it come together -- even if only for a moment -- the way he carries himself with such confidence, watching him shake her father's hand and ask "how are you sir," hug her mother and treat Kaleigh with such affection, respect and kindness was truly an amazing experience. Earlier that morning at the cross country meet, Kaleigh's mother shared with me that she's been asking around about Colton...trying to find out if there's anything negative they need to know so they, like I, can watch out for their child, and she said that no one had anything but amazing things to say about Colton. He's a great young man, he's smart, he's funny, he's kind, he's good...all the things I know about him to be true are still true even when I'm not around -- very reassuring, yet not surprising. Last night was amazing, incredible and will remain in my heart for my entire life. Colton is an extraordinary young man and his friends are no different -- bright, talented young men and women that are good to their core -- and it makes me incredibly happy that he surrounds himself with people that are like him.

After photos, the group went out to dinner and then danced until 11 p.m. Annette and I chaperoned and had a great time acting as the "kissing" police. I think our final score was Annette "2 million," me maybe five. We steared clear of Dude for the most part so he could enjoy himself without feeling like we were watching over his shoulder. It was a super fun night and he and Kaleigh had a wonderful time.

We met up with our friend, Dieter, for lunch and afterwards he taught Colton how to knot his tie. Thanks Dieter!

With Kaleigh.

Kaleigh's father helped her with Colton's bouteniere. It ended up taking the help of Annette and I to finally get that bad boy secured!

Everyone met before dinner at a gorgeous old mansion in Cartersville for photos.

With Brett and Brandon -- both run cross country with dude.

All but one in this group shot are friends Colton made through his cross country team.

What a gentleman!

And we're off!

Kayla's date, Nathan, drove seperately (he's a senior and she's a sophomore and her parents weren't comfortable with him driving her around) so Kayla rode with us to dinner and the dance. You can tell dude didn't mind too much!

Welcome Wady!

My BFF, Annette, was in town this weekend. It was wonderful to spend time with her in person and I really needed that opportunity to connect and catch up. We had a great weekend and her being here made Colton's big homecoming weekend even better. Thanks Wady!

Cross Country Catch Up

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. Colton has one week left of cross country, unless they make it to state (fingers crossed!) They've got a good shot but have to perform very well this next weekend at regionals. It's been a great season and I'm sad to see it end!

Colton and his girlfried, Kaylie

Last weekend we traveled to Bleckley, Ga. which is three hours south of where we live. Both teams took first place in their division. It was a great race and an interesting weekend!

New Look. Hot Night.
Well, I did it again. I chopped all my hair off. Personally, I LOVE it! Brenda and I took my new "do" out last night in Buckhead. We hit some new hot spots...Lola and Bricktops...and then headed over to the Ritz Carlton (a first for me) where I saw Newt Gingrich live and in person getting out of a car. Yes, my first "star" sighting in Atlanta...too bad it wasn't Brad Pitt or Justin Timberlake...then I'd get excited. We had a great time as usual and it was an early night because I had to run with my group this morning.

Bartow County Championships
It's not every day you attend a cross country meet where the course is lined with camels, zebras, goats, sheep, lamas and ostriches; or that a goat runs onto the course right as the runners are lining up to start the race. Ah, the exciting high-society life in North Georgia! The county championship race was held at Pettit Creek Farms and all five county teams participated. Woodland's rival is Cass...and the boys varsity team lost first place by ONE POINT! Total heartbreaker! Girls' varsity placed first and swept the first six places. Colton ran well and finished 6th overall and remains 2nd on his team. He's having a great season so far and we've got another meet tomorrow (Thursday).

Dude broke out early and took the lead. My first reaction was to scream and yell because I was so excited...seconds later I realized he should have hung back and made his move later. It was still really cool to see him leading the pack!

Running with Nathan around mile 2.

The top 7 runners in the county!

With Nathan.

Some of WHS finest posing with the camels. Both girls on Colton's left have crushes on him...and vice versa.

Champions! Dude with Brett (3rd for the county/1st for team) and Nathan (7th in county/5th for team)
Getting photos with dude is becoming increasingly challenging. Glad he thinks it's funny!

Finally!