The run, Oct. 26, 2008

We were there by 06:00 AM. It was chilly but not like last year. Elfida was in charge of photography and the run started at 07:30 AM. This year we didn't get to drive the course and we didn't have a map, so she had to get photos at the start and at the end only.

I had my sunglasses on but once we made the first turn around the sun was to my back and the humidity was going up. My glasses kept fogging up so I took them of. I ran the 13.1 miles with out them.

Dora was just behind me running with a small group of women. The first part of the run was easy. Nothing but flat roads. We were still with in view of most of the runners. This made it easy to keep a fast pace.

This was Elfida's last photo of me before meeting us at the finish line. I was feeling good. I didn't train enough but I knew finishing would be easy, the question was - How much slower this year?

Dora had pulled away from the group as she made it past Elfida. Dora's running pace was about the same as last years. Once we made it into Cameron Park we ran into too many hills. Boy, that ate up my legs. While running through Pecan Bottoms I got bit by a mosquito on my leg. Either that was a very hungry mosquito or I was running too slow.

I was about half a mile from the finish line when a female runner caught up to me. I had passed her at about the 3rd mile. She was in her mid 40's and about 30-40 lbs. over weight. I picked up the pace for about 200 feet, but she kept going and going and going.... and passed me. Anyways, I crossed the finish line with 2:12:24 on the clock. My official chip time was 2:12:14. The microchip they give you records the time you run across the starting line and then the finish line.

Dora was just a few minutes behind me. She actually gained about 7 minutes on me this year. She came across with the clock showing 2:18:40.

And Yes!! This year we did get the half marathon medals. Last year I complained about them not giving participation medals to those of us who ran the marathon as a relay team and guess what? This year they gave participation to medals to all the relay runners.

This is the only photo on this post that I took that day. Well, Dora placed Third in her age level and got another medal. It was more painful to run this year because I had trained less. Last year we went and ate after the run. This year we went home and I had a bowl of frozen fruit and three Ibuprofen!!! Old age sucks.

One last photo. Dora took this one. Elfida, my photographer, and I.

Comparison Photo

Gov. Sarah Palin. ( I borrowed the picture from another web page)
Okay, this is just so you can compare and decide on your own if the hair looks the same. And no I did not vote for her. I did go and do the early voting thing. Man, those volunteers are old!!!

Friday's little moments

This one loaded up out of sequence. I took the photo Friday evening at our house. It reminded me of when we lived in San Antonio and our boys were little. We would watch TV while all of us were on one sofa. No matter how small the sofa, we would all fit in it. Oh yeah, Foxy went to spend the night with the girls.

All the controversy that has popped up because of the billboard that the Waco Police Association put up on IH 35 got me looking at this fence near the downtown area. How safe does the area feel? What is so wrong is that this fence has been there for so long and I never paid attention until today.

Nice contrast between the sign and its shadow.

Lonely cat searches for food. I drive through here two or three times a night. It looks so different during the day. Not better, just different.

Back at home. Lily was not happy wearing grandma's glasses for a picture.

Isabelle was happy to wear them for the picture, of course she has grandma's hair cut too.

This is what got me taking pictures of the girls. Lily with the Sarah Palin hair style. She was showing off her hair at first, then got mad that I was taking too many pictures.

This ones even better.

Foxy and Isabelle were playing with a ball. Even Maiko got into the game. Foxy is still a puppy and loves playing. Maiko and Amy had to go home so the girls took foxy with them for the night. She will we happier a their house, since Fifi still won't let her into our bedroom.

Another day...

Woke up late on Saturday morning. The sun was already high in the sky, bright, bright, yellow white. The dogs impatient and ready to go out. I grabbed my camera from the night stand and headed down stairs. Yes, that's 10:00 am sunlight shining on our lawn. Fifi's bed is already empty. She waited by the back door to be let out.

Mr. Blue Jay was hunting for breakfast. There were Blue Jays all over our neighborhood. I could see then across the street on our neighbor's yard. Such a beautiful blue hue on its wings. They outnumbered the red Cardinals 3:1. He heard me coming down the stairs and flew across the street to the safety of our neighbor's yard.

The space was quickly covered by a squirrel in a big hurry. In the two minutes it spent on our yard, he climbed both trees, dug for something in about 7 places and stopped to inspect three of the flower pots. It moved on to explore the rest of our neighborhood.

Looking back from where I had come, I saw my in-progress work. Those frames have been leaning against the wall for about a month. They will go up as soon as I print a few other pictures that I have already chosen. I just need to find the right frames. I added one more to the line later on in the afternoon.

We use to have problems hearing the door bell upstairs or in the kitchen. The housing kept the chimes from being heard. Elfida had bought me the Devil mask many years ago in Mexico and it had been sitting next to my computer for a few months. I needed a place to put it but it didn't go with any of the furnishing in any of the rooms. It makes a great housing for the door bell! I love the colors on it and the details. I had more masks but Maiko now has them. We now buy handcarved masks for him.

I finally made it to the bottom of the stairs. Both Chihuahuas were already yelping for me to hurry up and open the back door. I had one more photo to take. Just love the shadow cast by this plant.

And this is what an evergreen looks like when it is no longer green.

We finally made it out of the house at about 10:45 am. Elfida watered her plants just before heading out to "Los Altos de Jalisco" for some Mexican breakfast.
We didn't make it back home till after the Cowboys' game started. Elfida watched it while I cleaned the area around my computer. Three trash bags of junk made it to the garbage can. After the game we watched "Across the Universe". It started slow but the sound track was all Beatles' music sung by the actors. The last hour of the movie was intense! It will be on my list of "see again" movies.

I walked to the back door to let the dogs out and saw the sun moving towards the horizon. I asked Elfida if she wanted to go with me to watch the sunset from somewhere south of town. She joined me a I drove towards McGregor. I was surprised by the large amount of traffic on the small roads and onn Hwy 84.

McGregor made a beautiful foreground for shots of the glow from the setting sun. We drove around and made plans to come back at an earlier time and walk the old downtown area.

Elfida suggested this shot. She liked the flags in the distance. By now the sky was just an orange glow. Windows down and radio low, small towns are quiet at dusk.
The sunsets are beautiful but the view away from those sunsets is also beautiful. The orange light gives everything a fiery glow. Almost like looking through red glasses.

We started the drive home in darkness. The sun was gone and a slight chill settled in. I rolled up the window, the wind coming in was now quite cold. Elfida commented on how dark it got out in the country. She prefers living close to more people... in an area with street lights. We skipped dinner, she read and I surfed the net. The Chihuahuas shared a sofa with us, home is so good.

Friday Night Lights!

Maiko made Lily her birthday cake at home. He is getting to be very good at this. Lily really loved the Barbie cake.

And she loved all the toy jewlery she got as presents! She looks like a Leona Hensley. Check out the Wilma Flintstone pearls.

The cake tasted great and it went well as make up too. Only Lily could eat cake and end up with frosting all over her face.

This little friend was clinging to our back door. He was keeping our back door bug free. He is one of the biggest geckos I have seen outside the house. There are hundreds of them out there. If only they would feed on mosquitoes only we would have a mosquito bite free patio.

Friday night lights!! Elfida wanted to go to the University High vs Waco High. University High had been having some great games, but they kind of fell apart against Waco. I had a great time listening to the football experts on the stand. All University needed was one of these experts to call the plays and they would have won by 30 or 40 points. These guys knew every play that would have worked. Okay, they knew it after the play on the field had been run. Kind of "armchair quarterbacking". Anyways, it was fun listening to their comments.

Shooting from the middle of the stands wasn't too great, but I wanted to sit with Elfida through out the game. Usually I am walking up and down while she sits, this Friday I sat with her. Maiko and the girls came by later on and finished watching the game.

There was plenty of action on the field. The fans got thier money's worth Friday night at Waco ISD stadium.

The Trojans came back to show their appreciation to their fans.

Dora was there working the stands with the rest of the University administration. We got into the game courtesy of Dora DeAubrey, who's name was called out during the game. Thanks, sister!

Lily and Isabelle. They loved listening to the band play and seeing the half time show.
When we got home, I showed Elfida the new light we had put in the back yard. She really liked it, but she noticed that the bench needed the boards replaced. That was another job she put on the "honey do" list. I worked on the bench on Sunday and it is now looking brand new. I will include a picture of it next time.