V-A-C-A-TION

In the winter time.  Which means it's cold. But not that cold.  Yesterday was colder.  Tomorrow will be warmer.  (You really have to sing/chant that part for it to make sense, otherwise it's just a bunch of short sentences.)  But the temperature has improved from -10 to at least 20 something, so it's really not that cold today.  Then tomorrow the temp is supposed to get up to 50 with rain, so hopefully some of the snow will melt and there will be open sidewalks again.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, if that matters to anyone reading this.  We're not really into celebrating those kinds of holidays, so we didn't do anything overly exciting.  On Saturday we went to RunBase in Boston and then at lunch/dinner at 5 Napkin Burgers.   Yesterday we went to Kohls and bought a self-timing crockpot and some pants.  We're so romantic, you can't even handle it.  

I swear when I jumped on here I had a lot more to say, but I've either forgotten it, or it wasn't important, because now I'm mostly fresh out of updates.  I am still looking for donations and working on a fundraising night.  I'm only about $1750 away from my goal, so if you want to take pity on me and provide some extra money, you can donate that right here. Boston Marathon 2016 Donation Page

Since I can't remember anything else that I wanted to write about, here are the end of post pictures. In recognition of Valentine's day, it's the before and after of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in their boat during the floating lanterns.  If you really like the after picture, I'll send it to you in exchange for a $50 donation. How's that for incentive.
*UPDATE*
I just remembered what else I wanted to share.  Two things actually.  One is running related, one is not.  So, first, the running thing.  Today I got an email from Green Strides, a fairly well-known race host around these parts.  They've been putting on the Earth Rock and Run half-marathon for a few years now, at least.  BLet me back up. Back in 2014 I ran that race with my running partners, one of which was pregnant at the time.  There's a lot I remember about this race, but specifically, the giant hill towards the end.  I'm not kidding when I say giant, but you better believe that two of the three of us ran up that hill and took it like it was our own.  (The third was pregnant and gets a pass for not making it that far).  I'm sure there's a post back in here about that race actually.  But the point is, even without training for this half, we ran it, hill and all.  Jump forward to today again and here you'll see this lovely email that I received.

Lest you not want to open that up or can't read it clearly let me share the main idea with you.  A bunch of people complained that the race was too hilly, so Green Strides changed the entire course to eliminate most of the hills.  Say it with me now running friends.....WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!? Is it just me, or is that absurd? Never have I ever heard of a race group bowing to pressure to drop hills out of their course. As far as I'm concerned, you check the elevation map before you run if you're that concerned about hills. Then you decide not to run this race.  Or, you just suck it up and run up the hill because you're already there. Running is not about finding flat roads to run on, it's about taking the challenge and finding out what you're made of.  Before you accuse me of being too into this though, I know that not everyone runs for the same reasons I do, but I still don't think hills should be removed because people complained. We live in a hilly area and it's just part of the run.  In the words of  Miley Cyrus, there's always going to be another mountain....

Now that we're over that, let's move onto the second item that I wanted to share.  This is not related to running, but it is related to country music.  You see, I had tickets for the Lee Brice/Tyler Farr show in Lowell on March 17, mostly because I really wanted to see Tyler Farr in person.  I just like his music, I can't help it.  Sadly, he backed out of the tour after getting vocal chord surgery, which was disappointing, but I was still going to go to the show, because I guess I like Lee Brice enough too.  But then I got our elementary school basketball tournament schedule, and wouldn't you know it, my boys team is playing on Thursdsay, March 17, at 5:45 p.m.  Obviously I can't abandon these boys in the one big game that matters to go see a country concert instead, but it was a little disappointing.  Being there for my team is far more important to me than making it out to Lowell to see Lee Brice perform, but it seems like this concert was doomed anyways.  Hopefully Tyler heads out on the road again next year and I'll get the chance to see him then.  

And now back to those pictures as promised above.