Turkey Trot'in

Once again, late but for posterity's sake


October 29, 2011 -- Time: 30:57 (we believe the new time is due to a last-minute, shortened route)

Kansas Thanksgiving: Day 4 - Black Friday and Day 5 - Homeward Bound

Elliott waited until Thursday night to have a meltdown about sleeping with the DVD player upstairs and insisted on sleeping on the loveseat downstairs.  That wouldn't be important if my mom hadn't been planning to sneak off to Target at midnight to buy my Kindle.  We didn't get much sleep, and the wee hours of Black Friday came even rougher because of it.  All 5 of us trudged to Manhattan (only 20 minutes away) to secure our deals.

We even managed our yearly visit with Santa while we were there!

Even with altering our sleep patterns, it made for some tired drivers starting home on Saturday. And I will never let my mother forget what a whiner she was. Granted, we drove the first 8 hours (non-stop, no joke) in the rain, but that doesn't call for being the worst rider in a car...beating out the 6 year old.

Kansas Thanksgiving: Day 3 - Turkey Day!

At the very end of our shopping trip at the Commissary, I finally found cornmeal.  I had two options, a huge sack or a container.  I opted for the container for convenience...

So, this was my first Thanksgiving to ever be in charge of the cooking.  On the menu:

• Turkey
• Dressing*
• Gravy
• Squash casserole
• Sweet potato casserole
• Black-eyed peas*
• Cranberry sauce
• Crescent rolls
• Pumpkin pie

I did the prep work on Wednesday night, making the work on Thursday not that stressful.  I say that, but then again I burned the peas.  Obviously peas were the easiest thing on the menu, but my multitasking got a little out of hand.  Also, I knew it was odd that my cornbread was very dense.  And dense cornbread leads to dense dressing.  It took days and discussion with my mother-in-law before I realized I had bought STRAIGHT cornmeal with no self-rising capability.  AHA!  All in all, though, my meal was a success.

The spread; Emi busted out the fancy plates!

We had a nice, quiet lunch followed by playground time and a walk with the dogs.

 

 

 l

Truth be told, next year I will probably long for a repeat of such a fantastic Turkey Day.

Kansas Thanksgiving: Day 2 - Post Tour

So, was it worth it to take an entire day to drive to Kansas?  Yep...

After enjoying a leisurely morning while Jeb was at work, which included inducting Emi into the Christmas Vacation club, we set off to Fort Riley.  We had lunch, visited the PX, then got a driving tour of post once Jeb got off work.  The oddest part was when he took us to the simulator and we witnessed lower-ranking soldiers "sir'ing" him.  Jeb, Emi and Elliott all participated in the simulator.  Mom and I were unable to even watch due to our equilibrium issues.  We took the opportunity to get in some exercise walking around parking lots.

Next up, we went to the Blackhawk hangar:

 Uncle Jeb gave Elliott the full rundown.

We finished up our day with our Thanksgiving grocery shopping at the Commissary.  Elliott had reached his limit by this point.

My hunt for cornmeal will be important for Day 3...

Kansas Thanksgiving: Day 1 - Drive Time

Better late than never...
 
On Tuesday, Nov. 22, we set out for Ogen, Kansas, to have Thanksgiving with Jeb and Emi.  We left at 5 am on my sweet boy's 6th birthday.  He was a great rider, keeping himself entertained with his Leapster, new TAG, coloring books, and of course, his trusty DVD player*.

Burger King birthday lunch

Me: Elliott, we are going to stop at a cheese store.

Elliott: Do they sell cheesecake?

Me and Mom: hahahahahaha

The only difficult part of the trip was driving through Kansas City.  This heavy traffic coincided with it getting dark and the DVD player dying, the combination of which led to an Elliott meltdown.  Thank goodness for the books on tape, wisely suggested by Aunt Kathy.

We finally arrived 14 hours later!

Uncle Jeb and Aunt Emi had a birthday surprise (and spaghetti) waiting on us!

Dossier (nearly) Done!

After finishing the Turkey Trot Saturday, Vanessa, Madison, Elliott and I headed off to finish my dossier copies and assemble the package.  After Vanessa and I's assembly line package organization, it was off to the UPS store to spend $60 in order to get it to Oregon by Monday morning.  Was that crazy?  Yes it was.  However, that gave the agency all this week to review it.  Allow me to share some great news:

I just wanted to let you know that I was able to read and review your dossier ... Everything looks perfect! I prepared your dossier so that it is all set for shipment the moment I receive your certified and authenticated photocopy of your 797 approval notice. Well done! You have done a great job compiling your dossier. I look forward to shipping it on your behalf once I receive this final document.

As Dooce is famous for saying, I want to be the Valedictorian (or at least the Salutatorian, wink) of dossier preparation.  I think that this success, combined with last time, might just get me in the running! ;)

In all seriousness, my mailbox stalking will increase tenfold now.  That piece of paper is all that is standing in the way of us getting on that waiting list.  AAAHHH!  But I am so thankful that I do not have to redo any documents.  I pray when it reaches the CCCWA down the road that they too will think it's perfect.

I mean, look at all this hard work!

One more step complete...

 

Happy Halloween 2011

 

 Thank goodness the Dougster is a great carver!

 

 

 

 

(The jar is part of an incomplete project; maybe next year!)

Happy Halloween!

 

In My Shoes

At the 1st 5k in April, Elliott saw the other kids participating in the 1 mile Fun Run.  His interest was piqued.  Then in May at my 2nd 5k, I randomly won that medal.  That really hooked him! So I've been trying to find a time that it would work for him to do his first Fun Run.  Thanks to the help of Anna, today was the day!

Doug took this unauthorized picture of me about to cross the finish line. 

Since I look semi-decent, I decided to publish it for posterity.

I hope to see many "double" shirts in my future with Elliott!

This race was a mixed bag for me: 

• Elliott's 1st Fun Run! :)
• Vanessa was unable to attend; this is the first time one of us has raced without the other. :(
• Katie V was my running buddy! :)
• Around 2.5 miles, I started gagging.  Two sips of water instead of one did me in?  Who knows what happened.  Anyhoo, I had to walk a few yards to get myself back under control. :(
• My time was 30:34, shaving nearly 3 minutes off my 3rd 5k time! :) [no wonder I almost puked!]
• The first time Doug has ever been present for a race. :)

 I am so proud of my boy.  And I am so proud that I inspired him in this endeavor.  +1 for Mami!


The end of every race is the beginning of a new one.
  --T-shirt of a kid I passed

Labor Day Recap

As my great but exhausting weekend was playing out, I realized it resembled last year's 3-day weekend.  So for simplicity, I edited last year's list to show once again how I spend my holiday weekends.

Saturday:

Prairie Arts Festival

• RAN my 3rd 5k!

 

 

• (Doug worked dove hunts)
• (Part of a) Funnel cake as breakfast (a PAF tradition)
• Strategies for keeping Elliott from being whiny failed, even with his new gun, but I was granted a reprieve when Jero agreed to take the 2 little ones back early for the 2nd year in a row! :)
  
  
• Chicken on a stick for lunch (another PAF tradition, and it must be purchased from a particular vendor)
• Bought 1 gift and 1 item (frame) for the nursery
• Kitty won 2nd prize in her age category in the art contest

Post-Dove Hunt Cookout in Artesia

• A fairly new tradition, but very worth it b/c the people who put it on are golden...you are going to want to click on the below pic to see Corgan wearing her Rapunzle hat :)
  
  
• (Doug still working)

Sunday:

Family Lunch 

• Crazily, Elliott and I went swimming even though the temperatures had already started dropping
• Played Contact

Another Post-Dove Hunt Cookout

• A delicious meal of BBQ beef sandwiches at Jero & Penny's house
• 2nd game of Contact in one day

Monday:

• Chilled at the house the grand majority of the day with the front door open, enjoying the rain and breeze through the screen door
• Read a book
• Umi for supper

So excited to FINALLY be able to say I kicked PAF off by running!  I hope to be able to write that every year from here on out!