1st times a charm. 2nd.. you're certifiable..

The first time you sign up and run a 50k, people just think your nuts or weird, or maybe just got a bad batch of coffee.

The second time you sign up, people begin to look at you with that "You did what?" look with the furled eyebrows. You know the look.

Well, the blog is Tri for Hope, Sacrifice with purpose. As always, the intentions are to do things "with purpose". In the gusty, cold wind of the lakefront, I completed my 2nd 50k. I didn't expect it to be easy, but I also didn't expect the wind and cold to make it as challenging as it did. Unofficial guesses between myself and another individual.. the wind might have accounted for an additional 30minutes of time out on the course. My first 1/3 split was quite blistering. At the half-way point, I know I was in for a long day, as I was close to tapped out. A combo of run/walk got me through the cold, numbness, and the legs doing their best to convince my brain that they were not capable of even walking anymore.

Certifiable? Perhaps. But I'll say this. If there's another 50k in my future, its not likely to be one on the Lakefront of Chicago in March. I'll leave that to the hardcore Ultra runners.

Peace

Adoption News!

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that formed for me, when as yot there was none of them." Psalm 139:13, 14, 16

We have a file for a beautiful 4 1/2 yr old little girl from Colombia and she has captured our hearts! We found out this week that our dossier was sent to Colombia for translation, and they will then hold it there for our I-800a approval. Our fingerprinting isn't until mid April, so we are praying that after we are fingerprinted, we will have the approval in hand quickly so IBCF can start reviewing our file.

Colombia's process works a bit different than our Guatemala adoption in that Colombia will first approve us to adopt, then they will send our file to the region the child is at and then they will approve us to adopt her specifically and officially give us her referral, so although we have her file, she has not be officially referred to us and there are several more steps that need to take place. For this reason, we are only sharing specifics about her with imediate family at this time until we have her official referral, which could be 4-5 months off. We appreciate all your prayers as we continue in this amazing journey!

Tale of the Dueling Fingerprints

*** UPDATE **** Oh for Pete's Sake! I tried to do a give away and the FBI clearances arrived before I could publish this post! Not to mention on 3/21 we got our USCIS fingerprint appointment so the FBI fingerprints won. Will have to try another give away soon. Maybe this time I will post a picture of the giveaway item to encourage more comments!
Stardate: Jan. 26, 2011, time 0 seven hundred hours
Captain’s Log: Sealed envelope containing most computerized scan of 10 digits sent via Priority red container through these United States of Postal Systems marked “HIGH SECURITY” for elusive “No Arrest Record” correspondence from said Bureau of Investigations for which Country that is not spelled with a “u” has requested.
Stardate: March 2, 2011
Captain’s Log: Largest acrobatic offspring takes part in celebration of certain milestone, 6 yrs in the making and shares edible fluffy bake good with crew mates much to their delight. New crew member, arriving for the celebration from land of many potatoes appears to be leaking fluids (note Trans-former reference) and should be docked near emergency exit. I-800A paperwork has been processed through crew chief and has received final approval for departure via transportation vessel Fe.d-Ex.
Stardate: March 14, 2011
Captain’s Log: Confirmed receipt of I-800A via transportation vessel. Additional engagement for 10 digit recording appointment TBD. Captain notes passage of 6 weeks since first 10 digit record sent to Bureau and projects additional 2-4 weeks before receipt of elusive letter stating “No Arrest Record”. Additionally, based on significant analysis of past data, Captain predicts additional 4 weeks until I-800A appointment which should prove to be ample time to heal self inflected stab wound on opposable thumb resulting from physics defying puncture by adjacent broken nail plate that in turn “bled like a mother” during transport of nuggets to Starfleet training class. Captain announces friendly wager with other commanders.

Will the Bureau letter arrive before or after I-800A FP appointment? Leave your guess in the comments with your e-mail. Correct guesses will be entered into THE FIRST GIVEWAY EVER AT TRIFORHOPE (HINT, giveaway is a pair of shiny ear thingies!!!!!!!)

Where am I going with this...

ok, between the new puppy peeing on the carpet, I think I have found some time to blog a bit and catch up. E1's Godmother sent me a book and journal for Christmas and in the chaos, I had not had time to start it. Well it turns out that I was at a conference 2 days last week and finally had a chance to dig in. In reality, i couldn't put it down and while, for once, I had the chance to go to bed early, this Ash Wednesday, I found myself trying to reflect on, well, myself. And so far, I have found myself asking myself what it all means. The point of the first chapter was to use movies us chicks love (aka, chick flicks) to point out that every woman wants to be romanced, wants to play a role in a great adventure and wants to feel beautiful. While I listed the movies I most enjoy, I found that besides Ewan McGregor being a constant in several of them, they were all, in a word, horribly tragic. Yes there was love, yes there may have been some romance, if you consider an encounter at a auto manufacuturing plant romance, but in the end, more often than not, someone dies, and dies tragically, leaving a gaping wound in the hearts of their significant other. Not quite the romance novel that the author speaks about or any sort of happy ending. Through the author's questions, this got me thinking about how strangly important it was/is to me in my relationships that I feel protected and would be saved, should a situation arise. I will never forget hubby telling me, walking in downtown Milwaukee while we were dating, (I was only 17 at the time) that if someone came and tried to rob us, that i should run and he would do whatever to protect me. In hindsight, the scenario was pretty far fetched, but I was hooked. He would be my champion, my hero, at least on paper and in my head. Years later facing a coral snake in Belize heading towards my inner tube, reality set in as I was faced with a life and death situation, it was every man for himself, including our guide who watched in horror as I tried to put as much distance between my tube and the snake. I ended up saving myself, there was no hero that came rushing in on a white innertube, throwing himself between me and the snake....there was just me. I am hoping that hubby doesn't read into this post as any kind of failure on his behalf, because its not, and it shouldn't be. In real life, I don't think it is realistic to expect someone to behave like some sort of Lord of the Rings hero at the ready with a sword should some Ork jump out from behind the evergreen when I am walking to get the mail. What I really am curious about is why this scenario is so important to me and why it is not good enough that after I saved myself from a snake once, that I can't rely on myself to do it again (should I be faced with some sort of deadly snake scenario, which of course happens all the time in the midwest). God, I am such a GIRL! I can't help but wonder if this ends up being a piece to that alusive puzzle I have been trying to put together for years...I guess we will see what Chapter 2 brings! Got to run, puppy needs to pee..again