This week at the Raymond Residence

1. The infamous thong shirt finally made its way to the garbage can. It just needed a last hurrah at the cross country reunion first (see above, with Coach Shane).

2. Halloween happened! Bruce was Darth Vader, Phoebe a firefighter, and Oliver a lion. We did trick-or-treating at the fire station (pictures to come soon) and a quick stint at a school party, and then took cover from the rain at home. Instead of rainy trick-or-treating, we watched a movie and ate popcorn at home. I'm a little sad that I don't have kids' candy to pilfer this year.

3. Phoebe had a firefighter-themed birthday party! We invited a few of her friends over, played a few firehouse games, broke the traditional pinata, and ate macaroni and cheese and cupcakes together. When Scott lit her birthday candles, she backed away, citing the fire hazard.

4. I got sick. On Sunday morning, I woke up to a sore throat, fever, and headache so nasty that it hurt to open my eyes. I stayed home from church and laid in bed all day. On Monday, the fever was gone but my head was still foggy and I was still exhausted. On Tuesday, I started hacking. On Wednesday, my voice vanished. Scott reminded me to go get my flu shot.

5. On a related note, our pediatrician recommended that Oliver get RSV vaccinations throughout the next few months because preemies are susceptible to the sickness and can get much sicker from it than "normal" kids. Unfortunately, our insurance company won't cover the shots because they only cover preemies to 31 weeks and 6 days (Oliver made it to 32 weeks by TWO HOURS). Our pediatrician appealed without success and when I looked up the cost of the injections ($8,000-16,000!!!), I think we are going to just hope we luck out and not get sick this year.

6. Bruce and Phoebe are enrolled in 100-mile Club at school and we have been spending most mornings walking or running laps at a local park. At first, Phoebe was determined to do just as many laps as Bruce. That fervor has faded back into her pokey ways. Yesterday while Bruce walked a mile, Phoebe walked one-fifth of a mile and managed to pet two dogs, fill her pockets with rocks and acorns, find a leaf to give to her teacher, poke at some trash on the ground, accept a rose from a homeless man, and walk backwards.

Oliver just woke up from his nap, so that concludes this update!

BYU Cross Country Reunion!

Once upon a time, I ran for a super amazing cross country team at BYU. We finished second at Division I Nationals during my freshman year, then won it my sophomore and junior years in 2001-2002, then finished second again my senior year. Before my time, we won Nationals in 1997 and 1999 as well. To say we were a dynasty during that time period is an understatement.

I was thrilled to be a part of the team: I was constantly pushed to be a better athlete, learned a few lessons along the way, and made some of my bestest lifelong friends. A decade later, my teammates are scattered across the country and we don't get to see each other often enough. Sometimes a few come to run the marathon in April or we cross paths on vacation, but we do not see each other nearly enough!

A few months ago, I received an email from BYU stating that they were going to induct the National Championship teams into the school’s Hall of Fame. I was invited to attend an induction banquet and reunion weekend with the rest of the team.Yay!

My mom flew in on Wednesday to take care of Bruce and Phoebe, and I flew out on Thursday with Oliver. Mooner picked me up from the airport and we had lunch with Tia and Anika; these girls were my roommates for two years, and I miss them so much! We have so many good memories together: sneaking into the fieldhouse with Anika, Tia setting me up on a date with Scott, and Mooner pinning me in her "double nelson" on a weekly basis. 

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony and banquet was on Thursday night. There was an hour-long reception before dinner, and I spent most of it sitting on a couch feeding Oliver and watching everyone trickle in. Thankfully, Oliver fell asleep after that and I got to enjoy the rest of the night. We had dinner together and then were officially inducted. The NCAA trophies were dusted off and displayed, we watched highlight videos from the season, listened to a few words from each year's captain, and got a photo together. From the four Championship teams, there were about 55 runners total. 

On Friday morning, many of us went for a run. Oliver took his maiden voyage in a jogging stroller; he liked it, so I might strap him in for a few miles more often. He shared a stroller with Nan's toddler, and we took turns pushing the kids for an hour-long run.We went out for breakfast afterward, then cleaned up for our more informal reunion that afternoon. Everyone brought their families and chatted, checked out the photo book we had made for Coach Shane, ate burritos, and caught up on the last decade of each other's lives. Sure, we keep up on Facebook and stalk each other's blogs, but it isn't the same. It was good to see that everyone was pretty much the same, but we talked about our kids instead of boys or schoolwork.

Friday night was the BYU vs. Boise State football game, and our teams were slated to be honored at halftime. Suzanna and I spent the first half of the game feeding our babies (remember, they were due on the same day?!), then filed onto the field with everyone else and waved with our team. After halftime, I headed to the friend's house where I was staying and went straight to bed; Oliver was not kind the night before and it caught up to me.

We met together for the last time on Saturday morning; most of the group went for a run, but I opted to go for a stroller-friendly power-walk with Tiffany and Suzanna around Provo. We had breakfast together afterward, then snapped pictures and said goodbyes.

Post-wedding fun in Ohio

 After the wedding, we got to relax a little. We visited Uncle Dan's house to collect eggs from the chicken coop...

 ...and feed the chickens and rooster...

 ...and go for a sleigh ride in what little snow there was on the ground.

 Under the snow was just as much mud, so Scott helped push the sleigh through the muck.

 We also got to see Uncle Dan make some maple syrup. We brought a little jar home with us, and we're saving it for a special occasion with some overnight waffles. Yum!

 The kids got lots of playtime at Grandma and Grandpa's house. That would be Bruce amid a Nerf gun war. He loved playing with Legos in the basement and having lots of cousins around. Phoebe latched on to Grandpa and followed him wherever he went.

 Bruce scored this awesome "ninja hat" that Grandma gave to him. He was so happy about this that he wore it to school when we returned to Boston, despite it being 45 degrees out.

We met up with my pregnancy twin, Suzanna, for dinner. She and I ran on the BYU track and cross country teams together way back when, and after college she moved near my parents to go to medical school. She is pregnant with her first child, a boy, due the exact same day - July 16. I'm so so so happy for her; she is going to be an awesome mom.

The day before we left, we had an Easter egg hunt. The kids got lots of chocolate and goodies (that's a chocolate bunny in Phoebe's hand), which they consumed on the roadtrip home.

BYU XC Reunion

While at Club Nationals, I saw two ladies I ran with at BYU: Nan Kennard (pictured above, cruising to 3rd place overall!) and Rena Chesser. Both of them kicked my booty in the race in classic Cougar style. I love meeting up with former teammates. There aren't many moms that still run competitively, but Rena has 2-year-old twins and Nan has a flock of three kids. On our "BYU XC Reunion Cooldown," Nan explained her Zen-Family-Running Theory. She claims that her running has matured and that having a family gives her a more balanced perspective on life that fuels her running. I need to work on that mentality: instead of whining about my lack of sleep and inability to run out the door any time I want, perhaps I should look for some advantages of being a momathlete.


Photos by Tom the Great.

Spaghetti Sunday, Marathon Monday

I had an awesome weekend: five former cross country/track teammates from BYU showed up for the Boston Marathon. We got together on Sunday night to eat pasta and catch up. It was fun hearing about everyone's kids, jobs, lives. We used to run many miles together and mostly chat about boys and classes. Even though it's been years since many of us have gotten together, it feels like we just pick up where we left off and nothing's really changed except now we have more responsibility in life. On Monday morning, the runners headed out early and we headed over to a friend's place near Mile 24. We ate breakfast, watched live coverage, and I went for a run up and down a part of the course with Breanne. Scott was a trooper: he wore Phoebe and chased Bruce for most of the day while I got my annual marathon fix. Scott is awesome.

Random story about this sweatshirt: I bought it at an outlet store in Ohio for three dollars. When Bruce wears it, everyone always asks Bruce who his favorite player is - of course expecting him to say "Tom Brady" since he's the quarterback. Bruce doesn't even know that the New England Patriots are a football team. So when people ask that question, Bruce replies, "my mom."
Breanne ran at BYU with me and now lives a few hours south of here. She came to cheer, but not to race. See that glow? She's due in October. Laura has been running professionally on and off since college (only "off" when having her two kids). This was her first marathon and she got into the Elite Start with her stellar credentials. She ran great through the half (1:25) and then had problems with stomach cramps to the very end in 3:13. She said it was an awful run, but that the race and spectators and everything else was wonderful. Kristen ran a good race, finishing in 3:00:05. Asked if she was ticked off because of those five extra seconds, she said, "I couldn't have run five seconds faster." She was completely spent.
Jami was so nervous for the race. She checked the weather about every hour on Sunday (chance of showers? cloudy? breezy? It ended up mid-50s, partly sunny, no wind). She started out with Kristen, and then readjusted her pace a few miles into the race. For those of you who have never run Boston, it is a deceivingly hard course. On paper, it looks easy. It's mostly downhill, there are a few hills (although nothing near the ones we ran in Utah!), lots of motivating spectators. But it is a slow course. Still, Jami ran 3:15. Oh yeah, by the way, Jami has three kids under four years old. Where does she find time to train?!Laura, Kristen, and Jami ran at BYU while I was there, but I graduated the spring before Carlee showed up. She ran the 800 meters in college, but has since moved up in distance. This is her second marathon and she ran it in 3:17. Here's the most amazing part: she has a baby that was born four days after Phoebe! There goes my excuse for not running it this year... Ethiopian Teyba Erkesso had a huge lead when she passed us at Mile 24, but had to sprint at the finish. The runner-up was only three seconds behind her then. Still, Erkesso won in 2:26:11 and got to take home the $150K. Robert Cheruiyot blew the old course record away by more than a minute, finishing in 2:05:52. I thought that he'd won this race before, but I was confused. That's a different Robert Cheruiyot, my friend Mithu informed me. Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot was the Kenyan who won four times before. This year's champ is Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot. Who knew that was such a common name?
After the race, we met up to swap battle stories and say our goodbyes. It was so fun to have a reunion weekend.

Anyone in for Boston 2011?