Crazy Day 2010

About once a year (some might suggest much more frequently) I decide to do something totally crazy. Sometimes the things are harmless, like making an advanced-ability quilt with no prior quilting experience. Other times my decisions are just dumb. Take last July when I decided to "magnify my calling" by attending a church leadership meeting when I had clearly overdosed on pain medicine for my back. (Who thinks it's a coincidence that I had a new church job soon after that? Not me.)

This year's crazy thing started the day after the half-marathon. I decided to do another one - only 13 days after the first. Can I blame this on peer pressure because a bunch of my friends were running in this one? Since the hot weather is just around the corner I decided I NEEDED to do this next one and not only did I need to do it, but I thought it would be a great idea if the whole family got involved.

So we all joined in and had a great time! Scott ran a half (and bettered his last half by 12 minutes!), Emily did a mile and Molly and Heidi did a quarter-mile run. My walk was not so shabby either. Now, hold on to your hats and get ready for this - I WON. Out of all the walkers (600 of us who said we wouldn't even run one step) I came in 12th overall - men and women combined - and WON my age group!! Is that crazy? It's crazy.

By the way, is that not the cutest photo you've ever seen?

Don't think the craziness stops with the whole family running around all morning. It gets crazier. Instead of getting a large pizza and passing out on the bed (which I am still not admitting that I did) I got home from the race and a hour later I had a birthday party at the house!

It wasn't an ordinary party - it was a Hawaiian Princess Luau party and here is the hula-girl cake. Note to others who want to make a Barbie cake - you have to take Barbie's legs off first. I was kind of tired and tried to stick her in the cake without amputation and it didn't quite work. Her legs are taller than the entire cake. Luckily Barbie washed easily.

The only disappointment was that the frosting decided to slide off the cake! I kind of freaked out when I went to put it on the cake platter and realized what had happened. Sadly, I could not salvage the grass skirt look. I ended up frosting the whole thing and scoring it with a knife so it kind of looked like a grass skirt still. I don't think the kids even noticed the difference. I did, but remember, I'm crazy.

The party itself was a big success! I just wish I had remembered to take photos of the FRONT of the kids' heads. Oh well. Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly when it came to the photos, but at least I can honestly say I have not had any of that pain medication since last July.