Team 'Ohana--No One Left Behind: The Continuing Adventures

[FFigawi]

Good luck to all the Ohana members heading to the Princess this weekend! I can't wait to see the pictures and hear all the stories once you're done.

 

[deekaypee]

Sorry to pop in and have this post be all about me. It's been a busy and rough time here. I've only run once in two weeks, and have been a general slug. Fallen off the WO wagon big time, and am stressed about life in general. Too much to go into, except suffice it to say the fact that work is keeping me busy is the least of my problems.

Anyway, DOOD and I are going to be at the Princess weekend -- and at WDW for our spring break. We're hoping to step away from work and reassess some personal, quality of life things. And have fun of course. I'm planning on being online some, and will try to touch base with those cousins not in Orlando this week. I miss you more than you know!

And too many posts to read up on, but just three things:
1) Richard.... for the anniversary, although it's odd to use such a term. I hope your family and friends continue to have happy memories that outweigh the pain.

2) Allie....I keep meaning to touch base with you and see how you're doing with everything that's been going on in your community.

3) Mel...congrats on the new job. You rock, and they're lucky to have you.

Please, please forgive me folks for being MIA. I'm trying to come back to a more balanced work & play mix, but I tend to be a bit OCD when I have multiple work projects going on. And when I set aside a personal project (say, exercise), I set it waaaaaayyyyy aside. I'll try to get over the embarassment and slink in here regularly.

 

[chimera]

Anyone else here feeling undertrained? We're heading off to Princess tomorrow, but not sure of the outcome. This hasn't been my best training season so far. DD17 is running on no training again so we'll see how that goes. It should be warmer than marathon weekend, but still about 15 degrees colder than normal for this time of year. Remind me of this in August when I'm whining about the heat, but I'll be glad to see some warmer weather.

Richard...I can't believe it's been a year. to all of you.

Maria...DD17 wants to see HP on opening weekend. I'm hoping we can wait until the crowds thing a bit. Congrats on the business cards!

Debra...thanks Right now I'm excited, but once I have to start dealing with college politics, I may change my mind I am working on approval for an elective I'm really interested in...Clinical Toxicology! Your Examiner articles have been great!

Terri...welcome back! What's up next for you?

Jackie...we did find a prom dress and had to order the right size. It looks something like this, but no bow and with a beaded bodice. It comes in the weekend we're at Disney for Magic Music Days, which is causing all kinds of stress.

What's everyone else up to this month? Anyone reading Percy Jackson? I'm in the 3rd book of the series. Not quite Harry Potter, but a neat concept.

 

[corinnak]

Mel - Definitely feeling undertrained and underpacked and not sure which shoes I'm going to wear even. I guess so long as we all finish that is the main thing. Good news - I couldn't find my WISH nametag (even though I had had it earlier this week) but I just found it this very minute, so that, at least, is good.

Debra - it's great to hear from you! Your shout-outs are always wonderful, but I'm truly just glad to hear from you. I'm looking forward to seeing you this weekend.



Complicating matters here, DS-11 is going on his first overnight camping trip with his new scout troop this weekend, so I'm packing for him as well.

I'd better get back to loading stuff into my bags.

Safe travels, Ohana!

 

[laughinplace199]

Good luck to everyone heading to WDW for the Princess Half! I will be cheering for you (from home ). Have a great time!

 

[MouseDogMom]

Princess Runners - Have a wonderful weekend! I'll be there in spirit. We're probably going to do 12 miles tomorrow on the Tobacco Road course, so I can pretend I'm doing the half... If only I could make the 'Ohana meet!

Mel - Love the dress!

Ran 6 miles last night, the first 2 with horrible shin pain again. After that, I was fine and had a fabulous run. I've been doing core workouts this week as well as returning to the weights, so I have all sorts of new aches that I haven't had for a long time. But at least they're good pains, unlike the sore knee I have from falling on the driveway earlier this week!

Jackie

 

[tiberius]

Mel - That's a great looking dress! I hope your daughter enjoys prom--and that you get through it without too many headaches.

Debra - I don't think we're to that point yet where the good memories outweigh the painful ones, but it is easier to think about the good ones. In due time, I am sure....

Jackie - Watch those shins!

All the Princess runners - I hope all did well and had loads of fun (however you define it)!! I am waiting on the great stories and pictures.

I did some volunteer work at the local junior high this weekend for the Destination Imagination program as my Disney Get a Day service, and I really had a great time also. I was involved in checking in other volunteers, getting snacks ready for the judges and generally being helpful for about 5 hours.

I had an awesome Sunday run this morning. My regular running partners were all no-shows to my running club this morning, so I tried to tag along with the next slowest runners. I ended up sticking with them for the 9 mile run in 1:26:14, which seems like an inconceivable run for me--and is probably my best run since my Marine Corps days, certainly my best long run since then. A couple times I tried to drop back (around miles 4, 6 and 8) but they wouldn't let me quit and I am so glad I pushed on while they held back for me at the end when I was running on empty. There were so many awesome things for me with this run, although my favorite was that I made my longest sought-after goal which was to run 3 miles in less than 28 minutes (i.e. the minimum standard for Marines) which happened during miles 6 - 8 in 27:03. For a short while, I'll be on Cloud 9 for a while from this run.

 

[FFigawi]

Congrats Richard! That's fantastic! Glad to hear your run went so well.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Hope all of our Princesses did well today!!

It is arrivederci from me... We leave for Rome in the morning!!

I look forward to having time to catch up when I get back.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I am so excited! I just read Dave Parfitt's blog "Princesses Do SWEAT at WDW" -- and our own JenB is quoted! And she even did a shoutout to her WISH friends!

Maria

 

[tiberius]

Hi Ohana! I am just poking my head in the door for a message on today's Monday Mixer.


Since Corinna is traveling today, I have volunteered to host the Mixer for a day.


So have a drink, relax a bit and join in the Monday Mixer with us…..
In honor of those who ran the Princess Half as their favorite princess (and other Disney races as their favorite characters), tell us all a bit about your favorite Disney characters.

 

[corinnak]

Hi Cousins! I am back, safe, sound and happy. It was a great weekend. I have a lot of pictures and stories and stuff, but I have to take my son to ice skating lessons in a minute! It was a real highlight seeing all the Ohana cousins who were there this weekend!

 

[princessbride6205]

I'm back, too! Had an amazing weekend and an exciting first half marathon.
Now back to the real world of a messy house, a grumpy toddler, and a DH that came down with the stomach flu last night. I'm excited to post photos and share stories, but it won't be tonight.

 

[jbucci]

I'm finally back to "normal" again today too. I had a great weekend

Nicole: It was great to meet you in person. I'm glad you had fun with your first race-- may it be the first of many.

Kathy: It was nice to see you. Thanks for helping me stay warm in the coral. I'm sorry I missed you after the race- we had to get back to the room to shower and make our breakfast reservation. Good luck with Tobacco Road, have fun.

Corinna: Congrats on your awesome race and thanks for being my cheerleader Butch says he is happy to provide coat rack services whenever you need

Deb (and DOOD): Thanks for getting up early to cheer for us. It was great to see a smiling face out there on the back half of the race. Thanks to DOOD for being our photographer at the Ohana meet.

Mel: It was nice to ride over to the Poly with you-- I am jealous of the ability of a 17 year old to run with no training...

Maria: Of course I mentioned my WISH friends-- you guys are a huge part of race weekends for me. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun without WISH

I had a really nice weekend. Butch ran in Tampa last week and got his pirate medal for the full there, so this was my turn to run. He was great and got up with me and was my cheerleader for the race managing to be around mile 4, 8, and at the end. I've been working really hard to lose wt the past few months and it seems to be helping. I felt really good through most of this race and managed a PR of 2:26:31-- beating my old PR by almost 12min I'll post more details later but wanted to check in.

 

[Jen117]

HI Cousins... Remember me???? Oh I sure hope so!!!! So to sum it up (if you aren't my friend on Facebook)... Baby was born a week late on January 14. We named her Laurel Elizabeth and she is just a doll!!! I have been keeping really busy with her and of course still able to work out of my home (yah!).

BUT.. I wanted to finally post and catch up with all my cousins because.... Yesterday I r/w my first "long run". It was only a 3 mile LR... but it was HUGE for me after being PG for 9 months. AND, it went so much smoother than I thought it would. I am training for the Minneapolis 1/2 marathon the first weekend in June. THEN... Oh yes THEN... I start training for WDW 2011. I think (pretty sure on this) I will be doing the 1/2 marathon this year and then decide to tackle the full marathon again. I don't think this body is ready to jump into full training yet.

I really need to catch up. If any Cousins are on Facebook and want to friend me to see pictures of Laurel, I am Jennifer Martens Loucks. Look me up!!

 

[tiberius]

Jen - How could we forget you? Congrats on the baby girl and welcome back!! We have added a few new cousins but the old ones are always welcome.

Corinna, Jen B, Mel, Nicole, Kathy and Debra (hope I didn't miss anyone) - Welcome back from Princess! I hope the return to the real world isn't too hard on you. I love the photos I've seen on Facebook (especially at the Poly) and can't wait to read a few reports.

Christine - Safe travels!

 

[chimera]

Princess went well, but can I say I am completely over these cold weather races? When we got in the van on Sunday, the thermometer said 44, but by the time we got to EPCOT, it said 38. That's just not possible for March...really! At least there wasn't any sleet this time.

But it ended up ok. DD17 ran also...this time she actually did two training runs to prepare for the race, one as long as 4 miles She also had a cold but seemed to do okay. She said her chest was tight around mile 3 so we slowed a bit. She crashed around mile 9, hung in there til 10, but we walked it from there.
She wants to do the Beaches race with me on the 21st, but I'm pulling a mom and saying no...not 2 halfs in 2 weeks on no training. I don't necessarily want to be 17 again, but it would be nice to be able to toss out a half whenever I feel like it

Nicole...sorry about the sickness you came home to. It was great meeting you!

It was really cool hanging out with Ohana on Sat. Congrats to everyone who set PRs this weekend!

JenB...thanks for the ride to the Poly! Maybe next time, our DDs can spend some time at the playground or one of the parks hanging out together.

Debra...thanks to you guys for being out on the course! It was great to see WISHers in several places!

JenL...great to see you over here! Glad you're coming back for Jan!

 

[momoftwogirls]

I'm slowly trying to adjust back to real life after returning home from the Princess race. I had a great time and it was nice to see so many of you there.

Mel - I'm sorry that you didn't like the weather but I thought it was perfect. I wish it could be like that for every race. Anything above 55 is too warm for me during a race.

Corinna - Congrats again on your awesome PR. You really got lots of great pictures between the two races. I'm amazed that you were able to stop so often and still set a new PR.

JenB - Congrats to you too on your amazing PR. You really dropped a lot of time. It must have been that great support crew that you had following you around the course. Remind your DH to prepare for AI in Jan. I'm looking forward to hearing him sing!

Nicole - It was nice meeting you this weekend. I'm glad that you enjoyed your first half marathon. I'm sorry that you came home to sickness. Hope DH is feeling better soon.

Debra - and DOOD THANK YOU for being out there on the course. It was so nice of you to take time away from your vacation to cheer us on.

Richard - I'm sorry about the character sketch. I didn't mean to take away your originality. I really looked for something special to buy in January to remember my Goofy Challenge. I was looking for anything that had the three characters on it (Donald, Mickey, Goofy). We looked for a t-shirt, ornament, mug, anything with those three and couldn't find anything. I loved the picture you posted awhile back that you bought over marathon weekend.

I wasn't exactly looking to buy a similar item last weekend, I was actually waiting for a personalized ornament to be completed at the Christmas store and wandered into the art store to pass the time. When I walked in, there was a sketch of the three runners on display and also one of Minnie running. While I was looking at the displays I was told that the artist would be back from break soon and able to make me a sketch. The artist has actually completed several Disney races himself and was very nice to talk to about the Goofy Challenge.
Please don't be upset but honored that you are a trend setter.

Jen - I'm amazed that you are already back to training again. I hope Laurel is cooperating by sleeping through the night so that you can get plenty of rest and have enough energy to run. I'm so impressed that you're doing a race in June.

Jackie & Jeanne - looking forward to seeing you soon at Tobacco Road. Now that the Princess is over I need to look into our plans for that weekend. I really want to meet up with everyone.

 

[tiberius]

Richard - I'm sorry about the character sketch. I didn't mean to take away your originality.

Kathy - No, no, no....I am not in any way bothered or upset! I had that same "gotta have this feeling" when I saw it as you must have had while yours was getting done. I love mine and I love yours, too, with its unique touches. We could all have one, and each would probably still be unique in its own way. Mine has a prime location on my office wall, and I hope yours is placed so that it can be well-loved.

 

[Jen117]

Richard - I see you are sporting the same leggings that Mel and Corrina have. Is this the new Ohana uniform?? I missed that during my leave of absence! I need to get me some if they are!!!!

Kathy - I was still run/walking at 6 months PG and I think that helped me get back on track. If I didn't have this June race planned... I would be sitting around crying about all the weight I gained. I am sure to be slow, but will enjoy getting back on the road! Pat, Jim, Lily, Suzy and Anne are also doing it so it will be fun no matter how I do!

Corrina - Are you doing the MN 1/2??? I wasn't sure if you confirmed it or not.

My little Laurel sleeps pretty good for an almost 8 week old. She feeds at about 10-10:30 and is out until about 6am. She fusses sometimes, but falls back asleep with a nuk (I know, bad mom for giving a paci). She is fussy this morning, but usually takes a 2 hour morning nap so I can get some work done (I am still working from home and loving it!!!)