Cross Country District Championship

Thursday, October 26th in Wenatchee, WA was The Big Day. Jay was hoping to break 20 minutes in the 5k for the first time in the JV race. Our boys varsity team was hoping to qualify for the state meet as a team for the first time in 29 years. Spoiler alert: it all happened! The district meet is my favorite meet to be a coach. SO MANY emotions! It surprises me every year how much I grow to love the kids on our team over the course of a season. Each season is a little different with group dynamics, and this year we had such a fun core group on our team. The varsity boys were a delightful mix of playful and dedicated, the JV boys were exploring their abilities in exciting ways, and the sweet girls courageously worked toward their goals every single day.

Go Jay!

Building and Banquet

Last Sunday night, we visited our new house and saw the newly built closet shelving, the designs of which I had chosen and approved a few days previously. One problem: I didn't like the shelves in the master closet! And I was the one who designed/requested them! I had a pit in my stomach all Sunday night. What have I done? What's the point in a custom home renovation if I don't even know what I want? And this whole situation was so incredibly first-world-problem-ish, I almost just let the closet issue go. It was such an insignificant minuscule speck of a not-even-problem to fixate on in this world full of actual turmoil. Still, on Monday morning, I woke up at 3am with my brain in puzzle solving mode. After two hours lying awake in bed, I had cracked the closet code and had a new plan all figured out for the master closet. 

Weekly Rubble

My first few ideas for the title of this post involved the word uphill: "Uphill Week" and "Uphill Battles" were top title contenders. But then I thought back to the literal steep hills I actually ran up on my own two legs this week and I realized that after all of the physical therapy and strength training I've been doing, hills are not as formidable as they used to be. Having power coiled behind me in my posterior chain (gluteus and hamstrings) is a heady feeling! Hills used to be my nemesis--they felt like hitting a wall--but on Thursday, I found myself cruising up a steep hill with more speed and power than ever before. It surprised me and felt amazing! Running uphill still isn't exactly easy, but I can feel the newfound posterior power that I've worked so hard for, boosting me along as I tackle hilly challenges.

All of that to say: this week was full of trials and tribulations of many varieties (some on the amusing end, some on the scary end, some on the annoying side, some on the stressful side), but after working for eight months to strengthen my weak glutes and hammies, I have overcome more than one trial! Not only is my glute/hammy injury healed, the quest for that healing has led me to become stronger than I've ever been in my life! I can run hills now! There's a timely reminder tucked away in there. Just like the quest to heal my glute injury led me to strengthen all of my leg muscles which made uphill running less difficult, the quest to navigate through trials will make me stronger over time. With steady, consistent effort, my trials won't necessarily get easier, but I will be better able to handle them with newfound inner strength that I built along the way. 

None of these lofty moral lessons were comforting in the actual moments of impossibility this week, but it's nice to begin the process of pulling meaning from amidst the weekly rubble. Journal excerpts from the week:

Aug-tober

The high almost every day this week was 80 degrees, causing us to joke that this isn't October; it's August part two, or Aug-tober. We usually have one more burst of warm weather before full autumn takes over, but September was so hot straight through that I was hoping we'd miss that second summer this year. We had about two weeks of cool fresh fall weather and then hit the 80s again this week, right after I finally broke down and hung our fall leaf garland. I was not planning on hanging the leaf garland this fall since we thought we might be moving by mid-October, but this week our contractor said they need "about" four weeks to finish our house, which brings us to the beginning of November. I am mentally prepared for the house to take longer, but I sure hope it's move-in ready by Thanksgiving. (hopefully not later than that!)

Our bright cheerful leaf garland, hung for the last time around our rental house windows.

Infestations

Shudder. I've had better weeks, but I suppose I've had worse weeks too. I've just never dealt with so much... vermin in a seven day stretch before. We had three infestations in our house this week (house flies, head lice, and fruit flies), plus an infestation of a different type on the cross country team (a handful of lazy whiny pants), and another type of infestation in our new yard (gophers). 

Journal excerpts:

Two races and a visit

BUSY is the word! Piano lessons, home renovation decisions, early morning seminary, coaching cross country (Jeff and me), running cross country (Jay & Rose), waiting around at cross country (Amber), cross country team brunch in the barn after a long run on Saturday, a visit from family, cooler weather, and more! Here is a quick photo album from last week:

Amber was stoked to visit the library during Rose's piano lesson on Monday evening.

Flooring, Selecting, & Running

Another week has flown by in such a busy blur, it's hard to remember specific things that happened.

Our future backyard, grass pending.

Home Meet Week

Early morning seminary started on Tuesday! As a freshman in high school, it was Jay's first time attending the early morning scripture study class. It was also my first time as a parent of a seminary student. Our ward holds seminary Monday-Thursday from 6:15am-7:15am at the church. We joined a carpool with two neighbors, so each family will drive the kids to seminary for a week at a time. I took the first week, which was only 3 days of seminary due to Labor Day. It has been a long time since I consistently got up before 6am, and let me tell you, it was not easy! I joked with Jay that he and I both had to get up early, but only he got the spiritual boost from it by going to seminary. Jay and I both started going to bed earlier to compensate for our early mornings. Next time the carpool rotates to our family, Jeff will take a turn driving!

The other big event of the week was our home cross country meet. We hosted the First Annual Sunburn Invitational at South Hill Park in Sunnyside on Saturday. Hosting a meet is a LOT of work! In and around all of that, there was a whole week of running, cooking, working, planning, prepping, driving, and living. Journal entry clips:

Ultimook 2023

Ultimook, our first cross country meet of the season, was preceded by a busy week of grinding our gears getting back into the school routine, while simultaneously preparing for the overnight camping trip at the meet. 

We had a super moon on Wednesday night. Cell phone pictures of the night sky are rarely any good, but I had to try.

School Begins Again

School started a week earlier than usual this year. The first day of school was Wednesday, August 23rd. The first day of official cross country practice was Monday, August 21st. Jay is in 9th grade (high school!!!), Rose is in 7th grade, and Amber is in 3rd grade. 3 kids, 3 schools, let's go! It was also Jay's first official week on the high school cross country team, and Rose's first week on the middle school cross country team. Since it was the start of my 6th season of assistant coaching high school XC, Amber hung out at somewhere around her 400th cross country practice (give or take a few days). Jeff began his lucky 13th year of teaching HS French and 7th season as head high school cross country coach. Ready or not, the busy days are back! Journal clips from the week:

The Last Week of Summer

This week was the last week of summer break. Jeff went back to work at the high school on Thursday, August 17th, so it was actually only a partial week with the true summer feel. Wildfire smoke rolled in from Spokane yesterday, and we went from a clear, single-digit air quality index (green, or "healthy") to an AQI of 209 (purple, or "extremely unhealthy") in a few short hours. We've been hovering between 191-209 AQI for over 24 hours now, and it's giving me a headache. To keep it simple, here are some bland journal excerpts from the week:

19 years of friendship

In August 19 years ago I arrived at SVU as a freshman. The first person I met was my randomly assigned roommate, Lauren. We immediately discovered that we share a birthday and over the next few months, we became best friends. We are still BFFs that talk and send messages to each other weekly. I got to go visit her and her family in their new house in St. Louis this week! It was a quick four-day trip: I got up at 4am and flew to St. Louis on Wednesday, August 9th and flew home on the evening of Saturday, August 12th, arriving home after midnight. I made the most of those four days!