Geeze It's Been a Couple of Months of SUCCESSES! Spring Break, TDY's, a New Job, and Running!

Because after a hard afternoon of tromping through a museum,
everyone deserves ice cream on the national mall!

This poor blog has been left alone and abused!  How can two more *expletive* months have gone by without a single entry!?

But honestly, it's been a successful, and of course busy!, couple of months.

Spring Break success!  The kiddos' friends arrived from California  (we'd know them in Egypt!) and hung out with us for a week.  Hard to believe that this was my last update.  We were so excited that Spring was finally here!  And now it's summer already?!  ALL FIVE KIDS (that's our three and the two who flew out to us!) had a blast.

I was still in the middle of a RN contract assignment and had somehow been scheduled 48 hours that week, so the fab hubby took off some time to hang out with the kids and keep them out of trouble.  He took them bowling and to the movies and also to Great Falls!  If you live in the DC area, you must go there.  It's absolutely fantastic!

All five kids at Great Fall.  The fab hubby was super fabulous
and took the kids to great places like this!

Gorgeous.

After some schedule finagling, I managed to pull a fab mommy moment and take all the kids to the Smithsonian National Natural History Museum.  The dinosaur exhibit was about to be closed for FIVE LONG YEARS, so we had to get in and see it!  Unfortunately, it was the last day of spring break and it was PACKED.  I'd never seen so many people crammed into a museum at once.  But we'd navigated crowds in Egypt, so we knew how to handle ourselves.  The only scary moment was when The Toddler decided he could navigate faster by crouching below knee level and crawling between legs.  That kid completely owns me.  I bellowed  out "KELLEN" so loud that the crowd of people surrounding us hushed and parted so that I was able to scoop up my wandering toddler.  Thankfully, I hadn't resorted to tears.  And yeah, I'm that kind of mom sometimes.

Orange Line, baby!  Riding the metro.

Quite possibly the greatest metro rider. Ever.

Chaos in the museum!  (Abby took this photo!)

Tourist time!

I had a hard time getting the boys to not do something crazy whenever I
took their pic.  This is the best way to get them - when they're not looking!

How can I not forgive him for running off in the museum?  Such a sweetie.

Anyway, just as we sent our visitors back on a plane to California, and things were getting back to 'normal', the fab hubby headed out into the world on a 2-week TDY.  Thankfully, my mom flew in from Ohio to help out with the munchkins.  The kids were happy to see her and I took her to see some of my fav NoVA spots.  You know.  Starbucks.  Old Town Alexandria.  More Starbucks.

Teaching my mom the fine art of the sippy face.

Old Town Alexandria.  One of my favorite places.

Because when you help out with your crazy grandchildren for nearly
two weeks, you totally deserve a beer at lunch at least once!

And then, in all this craziness, my contract at NIH concluded.  I'd been a travel/contract RN since arriving in NoVA, but I was starting to feel like a vagabond.  As much as I loved contract nursing, I was kinda tired of moving from job to job every few months.  And I really, REALLY love working Pediatrics at NIH.  So, I took the plunge.  And accepted a full-time position at NIH.  I honestly couldn't be happier.  This is a great direction for my career, and I'm up for the challenge.

And speaking of challenges.  I'm officially in Marathon training mode.  It's about four months until the Marine Corps Marathon and I'm convinced I can do it in under 5 hours. I ran The Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco in 5 hours 38 minutes.  Honestly, I WAS pleased with my time, but at the same time, it was sorta frustrating -- I was tracking for under 5 hours at the 20-mile mark.  The last 6 miles killed me!  Anyway, I'm on the trail again and have increased my distance while decreasing my time.  And of course, I love it.  I have sadly been having some arthritis flair ups - especially on cold/wet/humid days.  But I've been able to work through it, and that's really all that matters to me.  Power through it or quit running.  I chose to power through it.

My favorite compression shirt for those days when my hands really hurt.
Arthritis sucks.

A pain-free and awesome running day; hitting a local trail!

Right now?  I'm on a TDY!  But mine is for the Army.  I'm at Fort Carson, Colorado (in Colorado Springs) completing my annual Army Reserves training.  Really, it's fantastic.  I work in the ER as a nurse here on Post for two weeks every year.  I love that my military career mimics my civilian career.  Doesn't get better than that!  And despite my work load, I'm still able to get out and run, whether on Base or at my favorite stomping grounds -- Garden of the Gods.  Nothing but successes right now.  And it feels really, really good.

Fabulous TDY.  Pikes Peak in the distance.

Garden of the Gods.  One of my favoritist running places in the world.

Fabulous trails!  Doesn't get better than this!

Of course we all know the dreaded bidding season is upon us, right?  It's all the Foreign Service rage. And we all love it.  <insert eye roll here>  But we've got our theoretical plans for bidding mapped out and we're comfortable with it.  Here's hoping one of those theoretical plans works out in our favor.  We'd love an additional success!

Yup.

Finally. Spring! And a Kids' Cairo Reunion!

Spring!  Kids frolicking.  Love.

The windows are wide open and the fresh air is pouring in.  Abby and her friend Alyssa (flew in from California -- but who was with us in Cairo!) are next door enjoying s'mores at our neighbors' house (also friends from Cairo, you know) and I can hear them singing songs while they enjoy the chocolatey marshmallow treat.

You'd almost never guess that just three weeks ago, it was snowing here.  But Spring has finally, FINALLY!, arrived.

Making NINE official!  (And yes, I feel old.)

Abby turned nine (yes, NINE!) at the end of March with the final winter snow.  We celebrated with an ice skating party, Chuck E. Cheese, and a sleepover with some of her friends.  They were friends who were with us in Cairo, and who live in the area now.  It was pretty close to perfect. Of all of our kids, Abby's the one who connected most with Cairo, still occassionally referring to it as "home."  She's doing well here, but really misses her friends from Cairo.  We're so grateful for FaceTime - most of her closest friends have it, and she's able to keep in touch with them using it.  But actually getting together with them in real life is the best, of course.

And that's exactly what happened for our kids tonight.  

Remember the craziness of last summer?  When the kids evacuated from Cairo, but I was still in California?   The fab hubby had to start his new gig in D.C, but I was still on the West Coast.  The Toddler happily went to the grandparents' houses for the five weeks we had to juggle before I would be finished with my contract and military commitment.  But the big kids?  What to do with the big kids?  The big kiddos flew out to be with me in Los Angeles.  But keep in mind, I was contracted at an ER and working most days of the week.  

This is where it gets really awesome.  My amazing friend, Krista and her fab hubby took in our two oldest kiddos for nearly three weeks.   Despite the fact that they have four kids of their own (who are close friends with our kids) AND despite the fact that they had just left Cairo themselves (and were in the middle of accepting their UAB and HHE),  they allowed Abby and Owen to hang with with them at Camp Pendleton (San Diego area) while I finished up my RN contract in Los Angeles.  

Thus making it the kids' greatest summer ever, as all of the kids (ours and theirs) got to enjoy the rest of summer together, even going to surf camp.  But when it was time to leave?  So many tears, from all the kids.  It was heartbreaking.

BUT.  Fast forward to tonight.  It's now been eight months since the kids have seen each other.  After a lot of planning and a lot of United miles points (maybe I should stop grumbling so much about United??),  Krista's two oldest kids flew out to D.C. to spend our kids' spring break HERE!  

It's been an epic reunion for all. And I really couldn't be happier.  I love listening to their laughter, as they catch up with each other.  S'mores time is now over, and the kids are settling in for the night. Owen and Josh are playing XBox and the girls are playing with their American Girl dolls.  It's a perfect Spring night, as they really, truly, fall back into the friendships they've managed to pick up where they left off at last summer.

That's me and Krista at the Marine Corps Ball in 2012 in Cairo.  I miss her.

The only thing that would make it better?  If only I could have seen my awesome friend Krista, too.  Because the hardest part for me is also leaving my friends every time we move.  Sure, we're good about keeping in touch - phone calls and texts and Facebook and more texts.  But it's not the same as actually getting together.

But I won't dwell on it!  Because I know that just like our kids, the next time we see each other, we'll pick up right where we left our friendship at last summer.  Because we're good at that, too. 

But this Spring Break?!  This Spring Break is ALL about the kids.  And it's going to be the best Spring Break ever.

Owen waiting for his friend to arrive.  Because they are unaccompanied
minors, we got to meet them at the gate.  Such a sweet moment.

Josh and Owen.  Abby and Alyssa.  All together again!

The car ride home.  My head still hurts from all the noise.
(But I loved the ride home anyway.)

Krista and Alyssa worked on these jammies together.  So cute!

Of course, the requisite trip down memory lane for the recent birthday girl.  Abby when she was just four years old.  We were living in Ohio and she was outside playing in the rain.  So cute!

Those.Eyes.  

I Said One And Done…But I Really Didn't Mean It

Yeah.  That shirt is a cliche.  But every time I run, I really do feel invincible.

There's a strong love-hate relationship between me and running.  I've been a runner, off and on, for about 20 years.  {And BAM!  Just like that, I feel OLD!  20 YEARS.}  In my running 'career', I've done numerous races.  Countless 5K's, a couple of handfuls of 10K's, the oddball 8-mile and 10-mile races, four (as of this past weekend!) 1/2 Marathons, but only ONE Marathon.

I'm a slow runner.  I'm not particularly built like a runner.  I've got numerous physical complaints when I run.  But bottom line --- when I run, I feel good.  That runner's high is intoxicating.  Get it once, and you want it again and again.  So I've run, with lots of complaining, lulls, and repeat back to running, off and on for 20 years.

In October 2012, I flew from Cairo to San Francisco to run the Nike Women's Marathon.  I'd spent years dreaming of running a marathon.  After submitting my name in Nike's lottery, I left the marathon possibility up to chance.  When my name was drawn, I assumed it was fate; I was meant to run that race.  I'd only ever wanted to run one, and it was, despite the hardship of training (the heat in Cairo, the street dogs chasing me, getting smacked across my behind by a Cairo taxi driver, the exhaustion of working full-time/chasing three kids around/trying to keep a 'normal' life, etc, etc, etc), the race was EPIC.

I hurt.  I nearly cried when I crossed the finish line.  I crashed into exhaustion post-race.   And the pain that lingered in my small joints (primarily my feet and hands) for the month after, was later diagnosed as as an uncommon subset of arthritis - inflammatory osteoarthritis; unfortunately, running could be one of those things that causes an inflammatory stress reaction to my arthritis.  But I did it.  Against so many odds, I DID IT.

And it was amazing.  In fact, I'd say it was one of the greatest achievements of my life.

I felt strongly that a marathon was a "ONE AND DONE" event for me.  I've told everyone it was one of the hardest things I've ever done, and I would never have the strength or courage to do it again.  Of course, I'm still running - it's how I love to discover the world.  But never again would I do a marathon.

And of course.  I was wrong.

It started with a "don't you remember how amazing it felt to cross that line?", and was followed by a "you could beat your time if you did it again", and then the "do you really want one of the greatest events of your life to have already been completed?" crept into the thoughts in the back of my mind.  I've got so much more time to do so much more.

I bounced the idea off the fab hubby, who in all of his fabulousness simply said "do it".  No reminder of how much I loathe the five-month-long training plan, no complaint of how much family time it eats up, not even a mention of how much my joints will hurt.  Just a "do it".  He's always got my back, and has always been my biggest supporter.

I submitted my name for another marathon random drawing.  And today, once again, despite the low chance of success, my name was drawn for the event.   And just like that, I'm committed to the greatness of a marathon once again.  Because in October, I'll be lining up for this:

Sure.  I said one and done.  But I didn't really mean it.  Because it's time to do it again.   The Marine Corps Marathon.  An epic race with some of the greatest you'll ever meet and be proud to run along side.

And speaking of the greatness of running.  Last weekend, I ran a 1/2 Marathon with some amazing FS friends.

It was Jill's first 1/2 Marathon! and according to her, it was also her last.  We'll see.  I don't really think it's her last.  We ran the Marine Corps 10K last fall, and it was so fun, that we signed up for the Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon here in DC.  We ran the entire race together, crossing the line at the exact same time (with visions of lattes dancing in our heads!).

Training this winter has been HORRENDOUS.  I don't think I can stand another snow day!  But we were lucky and the snow never came on race day.  It fact, it was nearly 60 degrees when we ran!  And my other friend, Sara, she rocked her best 1/2 Marathon ever!   And now she's thinking a Marathon may be in her future.

That's really how running gets you.  You have a goal.  You train for the goal.  You meet it head on and nail your goal.  And then, you need another.  And another.  And another...

And sometimes, you even get to have fun doing so.  Time with friends like this is never a bad thing, especially if you're running 13.1 miles together.

At the Race Expo, getting the goods!

Every 1 hour, I eat one of these.   Love, indeed.

Me and my posse.  I love running with these girls!  Jill and I are new
to running together; Sara and I ran together in Cairo.
Even through sandstorms!

Pre-race photobomb!

Start line!

Mile 10 selfie.  Sara was way ahead of us by now.  She was going for a PR!

Another mile 10 selfie.  Why run together if you can't have fun together?

This right here?  Best feeling in the world.

Supergirls.

That's how you celebrate!
(I'm going incognito in those shades!  Does the latte give me away?)