Day 18, and a lovely gift!

Today is Day 18 for the eggs and I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!! Tonight I will take the eggs out of the turner, make sure the water in the bator is full, and wait for the pipping to begin. Day 21 is Friday and I just know we will be peering into that incubator all day long.

Sunday our neighbors brought us a wonderful gift. A chicken tractor! They said they wouldn't be using it anymore and they brought it to us! It was so timely, as I was just starting to stress about how to house the new chicks once they outgrow the brooder. I still have to build a new coop for them later to house them permanently, but at least now I have a little more time.

I have big plans for this tractor! Today I will give it a good cleaning in and out. Then, I need to modify the doors on the house inside so I can close them at night (to protect the chicks from possible nighttime predators). I will also need to put some hardware cloth over the wire that is already on there because it doesn't offer enough protection for chicks. Finally, a new paint job will help it out quite a bit. I'm thinking white with a red chicken stenciled on the door.

Egg update

Today is day 14 for the eggs. Last week I candled all of them. I found the brightest, small flashlight I could, and shined it through each egg to see if they were developing properly. Because the eggs are brown and the shells are thick it was a little tricky to do. I had to turn each egg around a couple of times and move the flashlight up and down but eventually I got the hang of it. Three of the eggs I could see right through, so my guess is that were never fertile to begin with. They were eggs from one of the White Plymouth Rock hens, and both of my White Rocks are my big free rangers so I don't think the rooster gets to them as much :) One of the other eggs-from a Barred Plymouth Rock- had a very small blob inside of it, maybe a bloodspot. The embryo probably died the first or second day because I only saw a couple of blood vessels and the rest of the egg was transparent. The rest of the eggs were filled with blood vessels and had a prominent air sac at the top, right where it is supposed to be. The middle was too dark for me to see anything, but obviously that is where the embryo is. Some people have been able to see the little chicks heart beating when they candle, but I couldn't see nearly that well.
We only have a week left, I am so excited! This is our first hatch and I really want those little babies to do well. Here is a pic of Mr. Rooster, the big daddy of all of these little embryos in the bator!

crossing my fingers for my feet

I am ecstatic. I have transitioned fully into morning running, and my feet don't hurt!!!
I did it right this year. I have been getting up early enough so I have enough time to walk around and stretch for at least a half an hour before hand, and I haven't gone all crazy and upped my mileage just because it's spring-
It has been two full weeks and I haven't had a single twinge in my feet, this is unreal to me. I really want to hold onto this, so I am formulating a gentle plan for upping my mileage.
Right now I run 4 miles every other day. Normally I would add an extra day to the mix, but that would bring me from 16 to 20 miles or 12 to 16 miles a week. I know my feet would pay for that kind of rapid upswing. I think what I am going to do is continue with the every other day routine, but increase one of my days by just 1 mile. So I will just tack an extra mile onto one of my runs. I'll do that for 2 weeks, and if I am pain-free I will add another mile after those 2 weeks. Hopefully this will be a way for me to add the miles without the pain.
By my calculations I will be at 32 miles a week by August-enough for me to decide whether or not to make the big marathon committment-
We'll see. I have learned that conservative is best in the long run (no pun intended there folks!)

One fine day in April-1995

Tomorrow is Patriot's Day, and unless you live in Massachusetts you probably aren't familiar with this holiday. UNLESS you are a marathon runner. Then you know that Patriot's Day means BOSTON MARATHON day-the running of the oldest and most prestigious marathon in the United States.

Each year when this day comes around I get nostalgic and reflective because I am lucky enough to be a Boston Marathon alum. I qualified for Boston during my first marathon ever, at the tender age of 21. Old enough to appreciate the company I was in, but not old enough to really take the time to reflect and let the experience sink in.

My life at the time was at a turning point. I had some rough years under my belt, but my running really pulled me out of the muck and I was happy, my life had direction, and I felt as if I was growing into a person I could be proud of. When I ran the Columbus Marathon in November 1995, my parents joked with me and told me that if I qualified for Boston they would buy my plane ticket. Well, they were true to their word, and after a miserable winter of training I was on my way to Boston for the 100th running.

I stayed Saturday night with family in Newton. Quite a bit of family was there and my aunt cooked me an awesome pasta meal (I know it was great, but at this point I really can't remember what it was!. After dinner one of the dinner guests taught me how to pass-juggling balls that is. I was so excited about learing how to pass, I think I forgot about the marathon for a couple of hours, lol! I couldn't wait to go home and teach my new boyfriend (future husband) how to pass-

On Sunday I did the Boston tour, I saw the John Kelley statue, picked up my race stuff, the rest of that day is pretty much gone from memory at this point. That night I slept at the Boston apartment of a friend of my father's. He was sweet enough to leave me a book of the History of the Boston Marathon-

Race day I ate cereal and a banana and headed outside to catch the very early bus to Hopkinton. Boy, that was surreal. Sitting on a bus packed with nervous runners from all over the world. Once in Hopkinton we were divided into smaller camps based on our qualifying times. I had brought my juggling balls so I did a little juggling to calm my nerves and talked with my fellow runners. Someone from RunOhio interviewed me, but I never found that interview afterward.

After several restroom breaks later we finally lined up. The gun went off, but I was so far in the back that it took over 10 minutes for me to cross the starting line. This was the first race where I wore a chip. They were brand new then!

I honestly do not remember much of the race. After the first few miles I had to run off the road and crouch behind a bush to pee. I had lots of company because the portajohns were full. That is the only time I have had to do that-
I remember that the hills were torture-not Heartbreak Hill, but the hills before it. I kept thinking "if these are bad, then Heartbreak is going to be a real b*tch!" But Heartbreak really wasn't that bad, and I took an orange slice from a little kid passing them out and it was delicious. The screaming through the tunnel at Wellesly was awesome. It was a long race, and I was tired, but it was so, so awesome. There were spectators almost every foot of the way-not like Columbus which had miles of no spectators at a time. I felt elated and euphoric. When I could finally see the Citgo sign I was estatic. I was almost done!!!

After the race it was a whirlwind. My plane back to Columbus was leaving quite soon after the race and I had to hurry and find my bag (not an easy feat considering there were trailers full of bags!), find my parents, and rush to the airport. I remember running like crazy through the airport, my medal around my neck, still sweaty and in my race clothes, trying to catch that plane! We made it.

This is the first time I have written about that day. I cannot believe it has taken me 12 years to do this! I think I am a little more reflective this time because this is the first year in a long time that I really think I could make the committment to train for another marathon. Some days I think I am crazy, and some days I really long to try. Either way, I keep my marathon experiences in my heart, they are precious to me and I know that after watching the Boston Marathon coverage on the news tomorrow night I will have tears in my eyes.

Dearest Marjorie 1915-2008

I learned yesterday that my dear Grandmother, Marjorie, had passed on. I was saddened, but also joyous, because she wanted to leave this world and was trapped in a broken body that she no longer felt connected to. Grandma S. was my last Grandparent alive, and also the oldest at 93. She was very special to me, and she influenced me in ways that I hope I was able to communicate with her while she was alive.
Grandma S. was a math and home economics teacher. She met my Grandfather while he was in the army and married him right before he left to fight in WWII. That first time he was gone for 2 years. During the war he came home in stints, but was never home for long, and thoughout his time during the war he earned several purple hearts and other medals of recognition which he, and my Grandmother were very proud of. They had 3 children, the middle child was my dad.
Grandma was the best cook ever!!! Every dinner at her house was something everyone looked forward to. She was an excellent seamstress, and would often make clothes for me and matching doll clothes for my dolls. She devoted herself to her family in every way, and she was a strong woman. She showed us love, but also had a firm hand, and she was not a cryer (unlike my Grandma M. who cried over every little sentiment!). I think that she learned how to be stoic from the years she had to spend alone while Grandpa was fighting overseas. I admired her committment to her family and her unending kindness to others. She has a special place in my heart, always.
I love you Grandma!

One of those weeks...

It's been one of those weeks. One of those weeks where running has seemed more like a chore than a respite. This morning I dragged myself through my run, exhausted. I just feel so worn out. B has been working a lot of OT, I have been trying to transition into running in the early morning again, my feet are killing me, M has been up nights, the kids and I are busy, busy, busy, my brother was in town, my Grandmother's time is almost up. Like I said....one of those weeks.

On a bright note, look what we put in the incubator today!