Well, you all know I totally got him one, facts and figures be damned.
Just kidding. There was a small amount of figuring.
But I'll be honest, as soon as we cracked that baby open we must've texted each other a dozen times. And it's fun. The kid has a great sense of humor, and I'm just going to relish him even wanting to text me at all. You should've seen the look his dad and I shared when he received a text from a girl the other night. It was ... a moment.
Sunday was Pittsburgh's Great Race--and we went! Sam and I. And we ran and we finished and we got an Eat N' Park smiley face cookie at the end.
The Milk Man encouraged Sam & I to enter. He insisted that it was a lot of fun and mostly down hill. He said he pushed his baby in a stroller the entire 10K last year. I was skeptical, but he's a jovial chap and the peer pressure was strong. Meanwhile, the race is 10K and I normally only trot about 3 miles at any one time.
It was one of the funnest things I've done in a long time. It rained the whole time. Sam beat me. But I only walked when I took a drink at the water stations. The water stations where the water tasted strongly of bleach. I thought Gee, "city water" sure tastes bad and then I learned at the water tent after the race that it's because they were dipping it out of garbage cans. True story.
If you want to feel superior, please feel free to check out my race results on the Great Race website. It kind of took the wind out of my sails when I saw them the next day. Ah, who cares! It was fun.When we got home that afternoon, Mark and I took the opportunity afforded by Sam having a cell phone to leave him and his sister unattended at home while we went mushroom hunting.
Yes, my legs hurt like hell from running, but I'm super tough like that.
I also got semi-lost/separated from Mark in the woods. It was like he instantly vanished. So I called out to him. Nothing. Then I thought He's messing with me. He's hiding. Gonna pop out and scare me. So I was determined not to react. I just stood where I was picking burrs out of my clothes. Then my imagination started poking out here and there. Someone snatched him. There gonna get me next. He fell of a ledge somewhere. He's unconscious. I have a lot of life insurance on myself. He lured me out here in the middle of nowhere... And then I heard him yell for me. And ask me what the hell I was doing.
Doesn't this tree look like a ghoul? Edvard Munch-y? Not Georgia O'Keefe-y...
We found 2 types of edible. Chicken mushroom. 
And what we were really looking for: Sheepshead.
And now a series of comical pictures of me on the mushroom hunt.
Not too bad. Nice getup, though. Fanny pack! I wore it in the Great Race. The Milk Man said Weren't those outlawed back in the Eighties? And for a second I thought he was serious.
Mark says to me Have I ever shown you the biggest tree I've ever known? I felt like we were dating again.
And so, on some back road in the middle of nowhere so don't ask me to ever take you there because I'll never find it again, I met the biggest tree Mark has ever been personally acquainted with. If I had been feeling a little more limber I would've crawled inside the tree because it was big enough inside to do so.
The pictures don't do it justice. The base of the tree is probably 30 + feet across. Pretty neat.
The pictures don't do it justice. The base of the tree is probably 30 + feet across. Pretty neat.
Here are the best photos: 
Wasn't even tryin' to look so awesome, I just did.I also let Lily dress herself for school pictures:
The picture doesn't show the fine detail of her cheap matching necklace and bracelet or those high heeled pink sandals. She was stylin'. I guess I could've tried to make her look proper, but what the heck is the fun in that? This is 2nd Grader Lily. Only available for a limited time! So act now!Back to work now! Not really. But tomorrow. We drove halfway across the state Wednesday to fetch Mark's new girlfriend: The Meadow Creek something something 3000 Bar-B-Que super duper smoker thingy. It's a giant smoker griller trailer.
And now we're selling pulled pork sandwiches along side the road. It's much more work than it sounds. And I don't care if I eat any more pork for a while.
We love it, don't we?
10 comments:
There's just so much here to comment on.
1). Love how you and your son raced together and you even look coordinated. And he is taller than you????
2). You do look great even in mushroom hunting clothes.
3). The chicken mushroom looks like O'Keefe. Very floral. Very female.
4). It did sound like a wonderful date. Love the still-green leaves in background.
5). I don't know nuthin 'bout girl clothes.
I think it's great that you and your son raced together and finished. I can't run very far at all but I can walk 3 miles pretty easy.
Love the pictures of you and Mark at that tree. You're a beautiful, vibrant woman.
The girls looked really nice in their school picture clothes too. Have a great day.
I would never have guessed you had children as old as your son. You look so young. Also when you post your pics I see how you favor Annie Oakley, I never knew how pretty she was until I found your blog and you had that pic there. I think it is the hair that makes you look alike. You have a lovely looking family. Lily did a wonderful job picking her clothes. That is a great color for photos:)
PS-if i lived near u I would have been on those pulled pork sandwhiches like white on rice.
That is so fun that you guys can text back and forth--and how cute that he texts you! Now you'll have all the texting language down pat and be all cool and stuff.
You look cute in your mushroom hunting boots. In fact, you always look cute in your pics. It makes me a little bit annoyed with you. ;)
I second Amy's annoyance!
Now please pass the Grey Goose.
And you are so rad with your racing ways!
But I'm most envious of your mushroom hunting. I LOOVE mushrooms, but I have no knowledge of how to keep from poisoning myself and my family.
And that Georgia O'Keefe tree. Goodness.
The only thing I took from this post was you standing in the middle of the woods picking briars off yourself. lmao. I wish I could be as distracted as you. That pulled pork is soooooo good!!!mmmmmmmm
Thank you all for not commenting on my "there/they're" typo. *shudder* For shame on me! Just going to leave it as an example to myself.
Michelle Renee: We *did* coordinate on purpose! We were Team Farm Market. Unfortunately it was so cold and rainy we had to cover up our matching shirts. :( You're totally right: the mushroom is the O'Keefe one.
Tanks, Michelle Johnson ;)!
Analisa, LOL "white on rice" love it! I wish I could ship you some of that pork right about now. I swear I ate a whole pork shoulder myself.
Amy & Becky--hee! You guys have no room to talk what with your own cuteness, your childrens' cuteness, and your nifty decorating finds. Annoying! ;)
Em--you flat out *tell me* you're not listening. Championship distraction.
I'm impressed (and a little envious) that you ran in the Great Race. You and Sam. How cool.
In Confluence, they had a 5K Run/Walk and I really should have done it. Thought about it. Considered it. And then went bike riding instead. But it was perfect weather: cool, cloudy. Sweet. Ah, well. Next year.
As for your panic attack in the woods when you couldn't find Mark, you realize you've been spending too much time hanging around with wacko mystery writer chicks, don't you?
How great you and the son race together and text together. That's cool.
what kind of tree is that? Awesome tree, cute husband too.
Those school pics will be adorable. My daughter in second grade wore her hat to school and had her picture taken in it!
And lucky you are to have fresh mushrooms! Yummo!
Giant trees rule. I wonder what was going on in the world back when that tree sprouted.
Congrats on the 10k by the way. That is no small feat!
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