National Married-to-a-Runner Appreciation Day!

Hi! Will here! Yeah, I know it's been awhile. I've had good intentions of posting, but I never get around to it. I seriously have like two years worth of blogs of my adventures half written or in head. I will eventually spew them out on our blog "when I get the time" (that's the same old excuse I've been using). I have been posting pictures of my recent outings on my facebook page so feel free to head over there if you are actually interested, otherwise it might be another 2 years before they make it out here on the blog.

So this blog isn't about me or my lack of blogging, it is to celebrate, "National Married-to-a-Runner Appreciation Day" which happed to be yesterday. So this blog is to celebrate all that Jenni puts up with me being a runner - a slow ultra runner at that.

She puts up with a lot. I'm not one of those runners that run their little 3 mile loop each morning and that is it. In fact, lately I hardly run at all, maybe once a week or 3 times a month, but when I do, she is more than patient.

Jenni knows the routine: It's evening, I check the weather forecast for tomorrow, it says sunny & warm, I jump up and do the dishes, put the kids to bed, pick up the toys on the floor, then work my way over to Jenni and start rubbing her shoulders & neck, then ask, "What do you have going on tomorrow?" She'll respond with the usual daily tasks, then when I realize there is a good chance she could survive the day without me, I timidly ask, "Do you mind if I head out for a little jog tomorrow?"

She'll usually ask me what time of day I'd like to do that, even though she already knows I'm asking for a good chunk of the day. I'll usually state something vague like, in the morning when everyone is up for the day, then she'll ask, "when will you be home?" I'll usually ask, "When would you like me home?"

Then I get that look from her. Yes it is that very look, that shows what she puts up with having married a runner. The conversation usually ends with an agreed upon time to be back by dinner or dark of which I am usually calling her from the trailhead by that agreed upon time telling her, I just finished up and I'll be home within the hour.

It doesn't end there either. I get home tired, depleted of any energy. I stink, I'm starving, so it is still all about me, time to shower, time to scarf down 3,000 calories and by that time it is late & I'm pooped, so I hit the sack out like a light for the remainder of the night, unaware of the poking and prodding she is giving all night to quite snoring, or to burp the baby & change a diaper. The next morning all my muscles are stiff and sore & can't bend over to pick up toys that were so easy to pick up pre-run, or have the ability to stand on my feet at the sink and do dishes for half an hour.

I won't even go into what she goes through come race day. Let's just say, it usually involves remote mountain locations, camping in a tent the night before, then her trying to entertain the boys all day while waiting 3 hours at a road crossing for me to come by all sweating and stinky, to smear my yuckiness all over her with salty kisses. The whole meet up lasting all but 30 seconds before I dash back into the woods, shouting, "See you in 3 more hours!"

Yeah, you probably get the idea now. Hence, "National Married-to-a-Runner Appreciation Day." The whole idea is for the runner in the relationship to give back to the spouse for all that they put up with for marrying a runner. Yes, I know a day isn't enough, but it is a start.

So last night, I told Jenni that today I would take care of the kids all day so she could do whatever (she's been at her Piano and Studio all day composing a new song). She just had to feed Taylor every couple hours, but that was it, No cooking, cleaning, diaper changes, putting kids to sleep. I had to step in a few times and intervene when her natural mommy instincts would kick in and beat me to a baby in need.

The day is now finished, I'm tired, yet blogging (something she is so good at). It feels like I've been running all day. We'll see how the night goes. LOL

Thank you Jenni for knowingly marrying a runner, for putting up with my insane desires to go run whether it be for 30 minutes or 40+ hours. Thank you for filling the void, when I'm out on the trail. Thank you for supporting, cheering & encouraging me along at my crazy races or adventures. Thanks for loving me despite my running hobby.

Banana Squash POST EDIT: It's SPAGHETTI Squash

This is my Grandma:

She has a garden. A big one.

She gave us lots of apples, tomatoes, and squash recently.

Including this variety...

(Post Edit: It's NOT Banana Squash, it's actually called spaghetti squash. Whooops I was having a blonde moment when I did this blog. Sorry!)

I'd always heard about spaghetti squash, and how you can substitute it for pasta and such. But I had never tried it, and can't say that I was excited to either.

That is, until Will looked online for ways to cook banana squash. He made this amazing concoction, to which I kept begging for more bites of.

Now I've made it twice myself.

Here is how you make it...

Put a quarter inch of water into the bottom of a glass baking pan. Put squash face down. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave anywhere from 8 - 10 minutes.

When it's finished cooking, start shredding the inside of the squash like so (it will fall apart into shreds by itself):

It will actually look just like pasta.

But taste like pasta it will not.

You will need:

Pesto Sauce and Parmasan.

For a half of a large banana squash, I put in 2 big spoonfuls of Pesto, and sprinkled parm into the mix.

The best part is that it kinda tastes like pesto pasta by the time it's done, and you aren't eating all of the carbs. Banana squash has like 20 calories or something for 2 cups of it.

It also helps if you have a cooking sidekick like this one, who coos and slobbers...

Ah, there's a smile...

The End.

Preston and Taylor Video

Happy 2 Months Taylor!

Here is a little video I put together of some Taylor and Preston moments from the past week or two.

Taylor is 13 pounds 10 oz now, which is 95% percentile for weight. And he is 23 and 1/2 inches, which is 75% for height. So he's a big kid like his brother :) He just started to smile and coo recently (featured in the video), and he is almost laughing. It's pretty cute.

Enjoy!

Preston's Blog: Pumpkin Patch!