Fun Evening Memories

Yesterday was a fun evening with Rachel. We didn't do anything particularly special. Just the usual every day tasks...grocery store, dinner preparations. But Rachel was in a particularly good mood. She chose me and a trip to the grocery store over spending time with Gram, which was unusual. She "helped" with the shopping and check-out, telling the girl what each item was as she handed it to her. If she wasn't sure what something was, she just said "and this, and this."
It was a little chilly outside, so we made chili for dinner, complete with the Jiffy cornbread- because that's what you make with chili. Since she couldn't help me with chopping onion or browning the hamburger, I put her to work on the cornbread. I measured the ingredients but she did all the mixing and pouring. She even poured the batter into the pan. I put them in the oven for her (much to her dismay) but while she may be able to steer the tractor, I'm not convinced she's ready for a 400 degree oven. We had music going while we worked and when she was done eating, she looked at me, angled her head just so, and ever so sweetly asked me "MomMom, you want to dance?" Well, how on earth do you say no to that? So we danced. We shimmied, we shaked, we twirled, and we spun. I only wish I had a camera to capture the look of pure joy on Rachel's face as we twirled in the kitchen. I was able to capture it with the camera in my mind and there it will stay forever for me to call up in the less than perfect moments of meltdowns, and in years to come when twirling in the kitchen will no longer be a request.
Thank you, Rach. MomMom loves to dance with you, bake with you, and do the dishes with you. It's ok now- but someday, you'll have to leave your shirt ON while washing dishes...

A Little Historical Research

This evening, I was asked to look through old newspaper articles looking for a particular person's name as part of some geneology research. Apparently, the person was too busy to look through the books of archived articles herself, and I have to say, she really missed out. There was some funny stuff written up in the paper in the 1850-1940s. Some of my favorite highlights include the B-25 bomber that had to land on a country road en route to IL from GA because they ran out of gas. I would not want to explain that scenario to the army supervisor. It seems that the FIRST step to the flight plan would have been to make sure the plane was stocked with enough fuel for the trip. The article went on to say that the state police did a "mighty fine job" directing traffic. Love it.

Several of the articles pertained to horrific accidents. One page told the story of two people who were burned in some sort of gas accident. One died and the other survived. The very next article told of the same unfortunate soul's demise when a pin came out of a jack and a car landed on his head...only it was in far more detail. Apparently, folks did not read the newspaper over their morning toast and coffee in the 1940's.

But my absolute favorite were the obituary's. One obit read "Her kind and cheerful disposition was always an inviting characteristic. As the rays of the morning sun drives the dewdrops from off the rose, so did her cheerfulness banish sorrow and gloom from her prescence...She shed forth such an influence as lasting as time and eternity, which will last when the sun ceases to shine, the moon is turned to blood, and all the nations of the earth gone hence." (1917) Wow. Nick and Rach, take note...I want mine to read to like that. There were several that were just as flowery and overflowing with kind words and phrases. Makes you wonder if these people were really that wonderful, or if that's just what you had to say when they died and if people read them later and thought that she was really the meanest person on the street...

This is how I spent my evening at the library. If I'm honest, I was kind of bummed when I was done because I had a good time reading through those old articles and getting a feel for the viewpoint from "life back then."

What will my great- and great-great-grandbabies think about our newstories? Only time will tell.

Seriously...Rachel...make sure MomMom's obit says that her cheerfulness will banish gloom and sorrow from her presence... and no laughing while you write it either!

Springtime on the Farm

Rachel loves to pick all the beautiful flowers...whether they are daffodils, henbit, or dandelions, she picks them all.

Nick raked the straw off the berries a couple weeks ago.

His timing was perfect...now we can work on the weeds before the berry pickers arrive.

Today, Rachel helped Nick chisel plow a couple strips in the former berry patch for whatever we decide to grow there this summer. She watches everything he does...mimics him pretty well.

Bring Daddy beautiful flowers while he took straw off the berries.

Freshly plowed garden and an open gate make for some very happy chickens!

Nick and Rachel worked together to put up a fence for the pullets. The fence is temporary until they get the hang of going in and out of their pen...then they can roam with all the others. This one wasn't too sure she was ready to explore. She went back in...

This one, however, was really enjoying her new space and even came over to check out the camera. I think I'll call her Mildred. Doesn't she look like a Mildred?

Why, yes. Nick lets our 34-month old daughter drive... Daddy runs the pedals and she steers.

YAY for grilling weather! Pepper would like her burger medium-well....with cheese, please.





Happy Birthday to my Ma!

Happy Birthday, Ma! Hope your next trip around the sun is out of this world!!

(I KNEW this picture could be used for something!)

OH!! My NOSE!!

Watching a little Elmo this morning...with her tissue box.

A picture is worth 1000 words. This one pretty well sums up our week here at the Held House. Have you ever seen anything more pitiful? Rachel came down with a bad cold Monday night. Nancy and I both had it by Wednesday morning. Rachel definitely takes after her MomMom in the cold management tactics. She does NOT like a runny nose. Wiping is preferred to blowing. Two tissues are better than one, three are better than two. Soft ones, please! And give her a wide berth when she is both tired and sick... it's not pretty. Whenever the slightest hint of anything might be running from her nose, she exclaims "OH! MY NOSE! MY NOSE!!" I'm looking forward to when she's old enough for nasal spray.

So far, the Held men have managed to escape the germs of the Held women. Here's hoping that next week will involve a lot less than 7 boxes of Puff's.

Journey to 13.1: Week 2 Update

Packed my running shoes and workout gear with me on our trip to Indy this week. I had grand intentions and I'd love to tell you how awesome I did with my diet and workouts, but then I'd be lying. It is HARD to eat well when at a conference. I juggled conference sessions, time with friends and Nick, and my Monsanto work and the workouts were pushed to the back burner. I did make it to the gym one evening before dinner... I turned on my music, set the treadmill to 1% incline (my Runner's World magazine says this makes my workout closer to running outside), set the speed to slightly faster than molasses in January, and began my workout. At the Y, I usually tune my radio into the tv station and get caught up on the morning "news" while I run. (I use the term "news" lightly as it's usually something incredibly important like Michelle Obama getting bangs.) During these workouts, I have the mental image that I look just as fit and awesome as the girl on the cover of Runner's World magazine. Unfortunately, the hotel gym had mirrors on 3 of the 4 walls. I happened to catch a glimpse of myself "running" and was forced to come to the realization that I do NOT look like the girl on the cover of the magazine. There was a lot of jiggle going on in places that ought not be a jigglin'. Good news is that the 50+ dude lifting weights, attempting to look buff, didn't look as cool as he thought he did either, so I wasn't alone.

I saw an ad for the Undy 5000 in my Runner's World magazine. What is that you ask? It's a 5K fundraiser for the Colon Cancer Alliance. I'm hoping they'll have one close enough that I can participate... anyone up for 3.1 miles in their boxers?! Come on!! You know you want to!! We'll get undies that say "Team Granny's Fannies!" HA!

Oh- despite indulging in Olive Garden, chocolate goodness, wine, and some other unhealthy choices, I still lost 0.8 lb this week. I'm pretty proud of that 0.8 lb given that my one meal at Olive garden was more than my entire DAY's worth of calories...Olive Garden is evil.

Until next time...

Journey to 13.1: Team Granny

A couple months ago, I did a crazy thing. I signed up for the Illinois Half Marathon in April. My best high school friend and running partner, Diane, convinced me that I could do it. It wasn't until I huffed and puffed my way through 3 miles on the treadmill at a pace slighty above a walk did I realize that she obviously doesn't know what she's talking about... After falling off the training plan over the holidays thanks to first bronchitis and then the allure of fudge, I entered the new year recommitted to my goal, but doubt still was in place as I read over the training schedule with double digit runs.

At the same time I had my moment of weakness and agreed to all this madness, my Granny was having a routine 10 year colonoscopy. They found a mass, did surgery, checked lymph nodes, and she now has her treatment plan in place. Through it all, my sweet Granny has kept an optimistic, can-do attitude. While it's the same attitude I've had for most of it, I'm still angry. At who or what, I'm not really sure. Cancer in general, I think. Hasn't cancer gotten the message that it is not welcome in our family? Anyone who knows my Granny, knows that she is the picture of what healthy eating and exercise looks like. Only for her most favorite meals does she allow a second portion and her daily multi-mile walks with her dog are at a brisk enough pace that she wouldn't lag far behind my "jog" on the treadmill. As each new diagnosis came in, I was left wondering why her? She has already overcome some fairly awesome health obstacles already (2 brain aneurysms) in her life. Why this one too? Shouldn't her main worry in her retirement years be dressing up as a clown and reading stories to the Head Start kids? Rather than worry about her, which my sweet husband reminded me last night my Granny would NOT want, I've decided to do the only thing I can to honor my Granny and her journey from 400 miles away. I can't be there to help with laundry, clean the house, or cook suppers for her and Grandpa. I can't be there to keep her company at her doctors appointments or pick up groceries or any of the other things I wish I could be there to do. Instead, I will get on the treadmill and I will run. I will run for her and the many others just like her who are going through chemo to kick cancer. If she can endure six months of chemo and all the less than glamourous side effects that come with it, I can endure double digit training runs, sore knees, sore muscles, and get myself back into shape...perhaps even get into better shape than I was in high school. And I will cross the finish line at Memorial Stadium in Champaign after 13.1 miles just as she will cross the finish line with that last chemo treatment six months from now.

Granny, YOU are amazing. You motivate me to step outside my comfort zone and just do what needs to be done. I am proud to be on Team Granny. Together we will kick colon cancer in the butt because it is no match for the Kenzie's and we will prove it again.