Wednesday's Wanderings...

...through my mind (cue evil laugh..."brahahaha")

Just kidding.

Actually, this post will be very random and rambling because I don't have any one thing from today that stood out enough to merit its own post. Actually, that is not true--I woke up in the middle of the night and had a GREAT idea for a post. I even thought it was incredibly witty and would make all my readers laugh. Then I really did wake up and didn't have a clue what that witty post was. Bummer.

After a busy night yesterday, I did not leave my house today until 8:30 at night. What did I do yesterday you ask? Well, I did something I normally would never do--I ran through the streets of ATL at night (gasp! not only did I just reveal where I live, I also revealed something that my parents would not approve of).

Who knew you could run from where I live, all the way downtown, past the MLK, Jr. Center, the big building where J works, past the GA Aquarium, the Centennial Olympic Park, and the Capitol Building all in one fell swoop?

It was for a really neat cause--taking back the streets of Atlanta by making running "safe". The Atlanta Track Club Competitive Team (of which I am a member) wanted to show the Tuesday Night Run Club our support for their mission. We had roughly 40 runners come out and run through the ATL, hitting most of the major highlights of the city. All told, I ran nearly 11 miles last night which wiped me out today.

What, you ask, finally encouraged me to go outside this evening? I wanted oatmeal-raisin cookies "somethin' fierce". So I googled "something fierce" + "oatmeal cookies" and found this amazing post that was calling my name (picture from Smitten Kitchen)

The dough is currently chilling in the freezer so I'll let you know how they turn out. I did substitute prune butter for the real butter and egg whites for the eggs so we'll see...

In C's little world, it was a headband-less and bow-less day. That means she looked kind of like a boy today, don't you think? Especially in her bright, primary colored shirts. Check it out--blue, yellow, and red without even trying! Ahh, the simple discoveries in life.

In it to Win It

That was the rally cry of our morning.

Yet another morning up bright and early due to my passion for running (and volunteering). This time it was a bit earlier (up at 4:35) but it was more rewarding...In a quick recap, our morning involved...

• setting up a waterstop at the ING Marathon,
• filling up literally thousands of water and Gatorade cups,
• handing them out and screaming/cheering for all the running/walking participants,

and then

• taking everything down.

Our community group from church volunteered at the 4th mile marker water stop. It was incredibly convenient to our church in case we wanted to just walk over to the service after our volunteer session was over.

Turns out, our group was paired with the Lupus Foundation and they had so many volunteers that it made everything extremely quick and efficient. At the end of the race, all the runners vote on their favorite water stop. Whichever stop wins receives money donated to their cause and organization. Very neat idea and really makes the water stops worth running towards--motivation that a runner may need at any point during the race.

Team Lupus was second last year so this year they were "In it to Win It". In order to convince runners that we were really the best stop, we played the Rocky soundtrack (on repeat...for 3 hours) while flashing lots of propaganda soliciting the fact that we were "The Best Water Stop" (seriously, we held up signs that said that). It was fun and i hope Team Lupus Foundation wins because they deserve it for all the effort they put into it.

Here are a few highlights from the morning:

Before, during, and after the runners:

The very fast and the very dedicated:


and those too fast for my iPhone:

And I think to myself...

...what a wonderful day

Today has been such a wonderful day and I just want to celebrate it! First, we've had spring, nearly summer-like weather and I've found that kind of weather always gives me an extra spring in my step. So, besides a slightly misty start, the weather set the precedent for the rest of the day.

Little Miss was celebrating her birthday with her friends today at the park. Check out the twin's post about the party.

Sadly, we could not attend as we had a prior commitment--volunteering at a local long-term homeless shelter with our community group. 4 other people besides me, J, and C came out to help organize and create mini-toiletry bags. It was a lot of fun to bond as a group and work for the betterment of our community.

My parents came down from the burbs after Little Miss' party and we all walked over to the park. They had never seen C in the baby swing before and she definitely put on a show--giggles, gurgles, and smiles abounded as soon as we strolled into the park.

Despite never sleeping more than 20 minutes today, C was in such an excellent mood! Her happy heart and cheerful disposition are so amazing--we are very thankful for them and for the great day we had today! Hope you had a wonderful Saturday, too!

PS Don't forget to turn your clocks back! Daylight's saving time starts at 2:00 AM!