Memorable Mother's Day

The weather has been so awful this year that I was afraid to hope for a nice Mother's Day weekend, but we got one!  Sunday was truly one of those top-10 days of the year--sunny, warm but not hot, gentle breeze.  Made to order....

But first, Saturday....

Saturday threatened rain, but we never got it.  Christine joined Jodie and me for a day trip to the beach (I had to be in the area anyway for a brief writing assignment).

On the way down, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast sandwiches, and Christine treated me as an early Mother's Day present.

She hadn't been to the cottage since we had painted the outside and put up the awnings, so she was excited to see the finished product.

The first thing we did when we got to the house was take Jodie out to the beach.

We were shocked at the mess.  The huge storm we had last week (very heavy rain and wind) had dumped all kinds of debris on the beach and, even worse, washed away most of the sand that had been added in a beach replenishment project just a few weeks ago. This patriotic-looking beer can stood out from all of the white plastic and other trash littering our pretty little beach:

Then we got our favorite Wawa food for lunch and ate it on the screened porch.  Jodie tried to look cute hoping that she might convince Christine to share her sandwich.

I don't think I could ask for a more adorable daughter or dog:

We hung out on the porch for a few hours and then went for a late-afternoon run together.  After much-needed showers, we headed home at about 5:30.

On Sunday morning, Christine showed up with a tray of marigolds for the vintage bathtub in our back yard. Within a couple of weeks, they'll spread and fill the tub with vibrant color that we can see from the deck:

Christine also brought fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil for pizzas on the grill for dinner:

We spent the whole day lounging on the deck with Doug talking, reading, and enjoying the weather.

I am blessed to have such a thoughtful, beautiful daughter:

And Alex, who was in North Carolina at a wedding, sent flowers and a card:

We missed him and Ashleigh on Mother's Day but we'll see them in just a few weeks when Christine graduates from UD with a master's degree in health promotion!

P.S. And a big thanks to my sweet husband, Doug, for his company and his cooking!

Pretty in Pink

Last weekend, we had plans to go to the beach cottage, but Doug does freelance photography for the University of Delaware, and the workload gets crazy from mid-April to early June.  He's had more work in the past four weeks than he had in the previous four months.  Saturday afternoon was no exception--he was assigned to do a banquet from 2:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon.

Although I was disappointed about not being able to go to the beach, there were lots of pluses to the way the weekend turned out -- besides the money Doug earns taking pictures!

First, being home meant that we could catch up with our friends Martin and Jenn, who had been away for almost two weeks.  Who can complain about time with great friends eating pizza and ice cream?

Being home also meant I could continue to indulge my resurgent running obsession.  I knew there was another race on the Wilmington Riverfront, and if we were going to be home anyway, why not sign up?

It was a beautiful day to be on the Riverfront, and the crew teams were out early too:

But on my way to the race, I felt really awful.

I admit it--I am a caffeine addict.  My drug of choice is Diet Coke, and we had run out the day before, so I had not had my early morning fix.

On my way to Wilmington, I stopped at WaWa to get a 20-ounce bottle, but by then I was already feeling the effects of withdrawal.  I had a terrible headache and was feeling nauseated and lightheaded.

I started to wonder whether an hour was going to be long enough for the effects to kick in by the time I had to start running.... Even as I walked to the start line, I wasn't sure, and I was feeling like I shouldn't have even wasted the time and money to enter the race.

My last two 5K times had been 24:22 and 24:24.  The way I was feeling, there was no way anything better than those times was going to happen. But the starter went off at 9:00, and we were on our way.  I began to feel a bit better and hoped that maybe I would at least match my last two times. I knew from my MapMyRun program, which talks to me as I run, that I was holding a sub-8:00 pace.

When I hit the three-mile mark, I was stunned to see the clock ahead of me reading 22:14. I had one-tenth of a mile to go. Could I make it in less than 45 seconds?

I put everything I had left into finishing, but when I crossed the line I still wasn't sure of my official time.

A look at the computer a few minutes later told me that I had done it!  My "gun" time was 24:01, but my chip time, which registers when I actually crossed the start and finish lines, showed 23:58.

All the crappy feelings of an hour earlier disappeared, and I felt great.

My prize was a $20 gift certificate to the same restaurant to which Christine had won a $25 card two weeks ago.  We had already planned lunch together, but I think now dessert will be on our order too.

I am not a person who likes pink AT ALL, but I recently bought a pair of "magenta" lightweight running shoes for racing because they were on sale and that was the only color left in my size.

When I told Doug my results, he posted on Facebook and referred to the pink beauties as my "Wonder Woman" shoes:

They're kind of growing on me.

Doug has photos to take again this weekend, but Jodie and I will be heading to the beach and hoping that the predicted thunderstorms go somewhere else.

And since I didn't have a lot of photos for this entry, I'll add one of her lying on the deck with the flowers that are waiting to be planted in our yard:

My "flower girl" can't wait to be a beach girl again.