Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…

Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…

Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…

Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…

Walk…Walk…Walk…Walk…

The Mom is 60!!!!! We celebrated in style at Maddox Fine Foods.  We were privileged enough to have the Buffalo Room all to ourselves. Everyone showed up and there was no family drama, maybe we can all get along for an hour. I hope The Mom had a good time and knows how much we love her and appreciate her.

  The Mom turns 60!!!

Click on the Photos to see more of the Birthday Party

Follow these 10 tips outlined below during this month for a welcoming summer garden that’s filled with color, fragrance and song.

Survey the Yard
Make note of tree limbs that should be removed or cabled, especially those that overhang structures. Hire an arborist to maintain large trees.Cut down last year’s perennial foliage, and toss it into the compost pile. Rake mulch from beds planted with bulbs before foliage appears, and refresh mulch in other planting areas after soil warms. Check fences, steps, and pathways for disrepair caused by freezing and thawing.

Order Tools and Plants
Tune up tools so everything is ready when things start growing. Make note of what is missing, and order tools for the new growing season. Choose new plants for the garden. Order perennials, trees, and shrubs for spring planting.

Get Ready to Mow
Send the mower and leaf blower for servicing, or if you have the right tools, sharpen the mower blades yourself. Refill your mower with oil, install fresh spark plugs, and lubricate moving parts if necessary. Clear the lawn of winter debris, and look for areas that need re-seeding before mowing.

Take a Soil Test
Check soil pH with a home soil- test kit, taking several samples from different planting areas for an accurate reading. Enrich soil as necessary: Add  lime to raise the pH or elemental sulfur to lower the pH.

Prepare New Beds
Clear the planting area as soon as soil can be worked, removing sod or weeds and debris. Spread a 4-inch layer of compost or well-rotted manure and any amendments over soil, and cultivate it to a depth of 10 to 12 inches with a spading fork.

Plant
Plant bare-root trees, shrubs, and perennials such as hostas and daylilies by early spring. Choose a cool, cloudy day if possible. Transplant container-grown plants anytime during the growing season except midsummer; be sure to water them thoroughly. Sow seeds of cool-season flowers like sweet peas, poppies, and calendula, and vegetables such as lettuce, parsley, and spinach.

Fertilize
Apply balanced fertilizer (6-6-6 or 8-8-8), fish emulsion, or other soil amendments recommended by soil-test results around trees and shrubs when new growth appears. Spread high-acid fertilizer and pine-needle mulch around acid-loving shrubs like azaleas and camellias. Begin fertilizing perennials when active growth resumes.

Start a Compost Pile
Start a compost pile, or use a compost bin, if you don’t have one already. Begin by collecting plant debris and leaves raked up from the garden. Chop these up first to speed decomposition. Add equal amounts “brown” (carbon-rich) materials like dried leaves and straw and “green” (nitrogen-rich) materials like grass clippings and weeds in even layers with water and a compost bio-activator. Turn regularly. Continue adding to the pile throughout the season for rich, homemade compost next spring.

Clean Bird Feeders and Baths
Disinfect the feeders by scrubbing with weak bleach solution (1/4 cup bleach: 2 gallons warm water). Rinse and dry the feeders thoroughly before refilling them.Scrub birdbaths with bleach solution, then rinse them thoroughly and refill, changing water weekly. Clean birdbaths and feeders regularly throughout the season.

Prune Trees and Shrubs
Remove dead, damaged, and diseased branches from woody plants. Thin and trim summer-blooming shrubs such as butterfly bush, hydrangea, and most roses, except for old-fashioned once bloomers. Prune cold-damaged wood after plants resume spring growth. Prune spring-blooming shrubs and trees after flowering. One word of advice from today’s experience:   DON’T MISTAKE YOUR THUMB FOR A THICK BRANCH WHEN PRUNING THE SHRUBS!!!!!!

I actually finished the 2008 Salt Lake City Half Marathon. I confess, I didn’t run the complete 13.1 miles, but I traveled the whole distance under my own power. I ended up walking a lot more then I thought I would, but my goal was to finish and that I did. I finished with a time of two hours and twenty seven minutes (2:27:48). I actually finished a little faster then I had anticipated. I will chalk that up to race day excitement. It really was a surreal experience now that I look back on it. My day started out at 4:00 in the morning. I actually slept really well the night before the race. I woke up, ate my oatmeal and banana and was off to the Gateway Center in downtown Salt Lake City to catch the shuttle to the starting line up at the University of Utah. I was rather excited and not nervous as I waited for the race to begin. First the cyclists took off at 6:00 in the morning, then those that wanted to walk the course took off at 6:30. As 7:00 approached I made one last dash to the port-a-potties only to find a series of lines that looked like what I thought the start of the race would look like. I am sure all 13,000 runners were thinking the same thing that I was thinking and so we all stood there in line waiting to use the restroom. Right before the race, we sang the national anthem and then counted down and off we ran. I turned on my Ipod and started with step one. By the time I was at step 22, I thought to myself how crazy I must be to think I could run a Half Marathon.  As I ticked the first mile off, all I could think of was the next 12 miles. I knew it was as mental as it was physical so I just looked down at my feet and continued putting one foot in front of the other. My strategy at that point was to run from aid station to aid station and walk during the aid stations. I actually ended up walking more that that. It was so great to see all the people lining the streets cheering on the runners. Janet, from my office, was out there with sign just for me. She even ran a block with me along the way. 

I hit my first wall at mile 7. All I wanted to do was walk. I had only run half way… The wind was blowing in my face… My gut was hurting… I was gagging on the GU energy… and then I saw my inspiration….RICK. He wasn’t supposed to be cheering me along the course. He was supposed to meet me at the finish line. I almost missed him, but I glanced over to my left and there he was as excited as ever and telling me that I could do it… Well thanks Rick…now I HAD to do it. Once again, I looked down and continued on.

The miles were going by now….I had 4 more miles behind me and turned onto to State street at mile eleven. I looked ahead and the street was wide and seemed very long. It was then that I hit my second wall, only this wall seemed much bigger and the impact all that much greater. Up to that point it was easy to run from house to house. They just seemed to keep going and I seemed to keep moving forward. Now I was judging my distance by stop lights that seemed to so……..far………apart.

As I reached mile 12, the police escort for the marathoners past me and right behind them in a full sprint were three runners. Here I was finishing 12 miles and these guys were finishing 25 miles. I guess it was due to the fact that I walked the aid stations……

After 12.5 miles I could see that the end was near. I had NO IDEA that the last half of mile would be so long. I wanted to stop and walk, just as I had done 1….ok 50 times that day, but now there were all these people watching me…. I couldn’t stop now, so what else could I do but feel the burn in my legs, the ache in my feet and move forward. Those cobble stones of the Gateway street seemed to stretch for mile out ahead of me, like little Lego’s stacked on top of each other….I saw my brother Josh and his girlfriend Annie and I was so excited, I then saw Stacey, Ryan and Rick and the rush that I felt was exhilarating.  I could see the actual finish line now. I could see the time click above the finish line. It was 2 hours and 29 minutes. I pushed just a little harder, I had to finish under 2 hours and 30 minutes. I crossed that finish line in a bit of a daze just before 2 hours and 30 minutes rolled around. I felt like I could conquer this again any time. I walked forward a few steps, received my finishers medal and found Rick. Something slipped out of my mouth that I barely recall now as I write this down. I declared to Rick at that moment, as the pain and fatigue finally caught up to me, that there is no way in hell I would be able to run a marathon.

The training will continue……. St. George Marathon here I come.

I am number 5934. I may just have that tattooed on the back of my leg in bar code format. Today I picked up my official Salt Lake City Marathon race packet information. Included was my race shirt, my race bib and number, my timing chip and numerous samples of muscle pain relief ointment. There were four different brands of ointment in my goodie bag. Maybe that is an omen for how my race is going to end. There was a little expo with vendors, from shoes and running gear to a group that was organizing a peaceful torch walk to showcase the plight of those in Tibet. I browsed through the booths and bought some cheap gloves that I can wear at the start of the race and then throw away as it warms up. I hate running with cold hands. I also bought me a supply of GU energy gel.  GU is nutritionally formulated to provide sustained energy, focus and motivation so you can kick some butt and take names during the most important part of the day, RECESS. I hope my half-marathon race is like a recess. Man I hate the taste of GU, but it does seem to help me out when I need to KICK SOME A$$!!!!

T-ko and Maddie were in rare form today. They were both running like crazy around the yard. Maddie had her little raw hide chewy and was hiding it in the bushes, under outdoor furniture and under fallen leaves. T-ko stood of to the side chewing on a stick acting like she wasn’t watching…as soon as Maddie left her newly buried treasure, T-ko was off to claim the gold. This little game of hide and seek went on for a good little while. It really amazes me how funny the two of them are together. That Maddie girl is a conniving little girl with an attitude.