Okay. okay...enough of the monkey (yes, karen you can look now :)) june is in full swing but the weather sure doesn't feel like it! with the exception of a few days here and there, it's been rainy and cloudy. sure hope i can get a tan before my class reunion. at any rate, this past weekend was a nice one and we took advantage of it. i kept my weekend free of photo appointments and we played!

Saturday i woke up at 3:45 a.m. which i haven't done since the kids were babies, and got ready for a half marathon in Viborg, SD. to be honest with you, i wasn't totally awake until i actually got to Swan Lake where the marathon took place. it was dark the whole drive there but i really enjoyed it. the peacefulness, the sun just starting to come up and i had klove cranked on the radio. it was cool. once i got to swan lake, i met some people i knew, and some i didn't know. lots of hard core marathoners were there. these guys were running a marathon in every state. some were from canada, washington, california, all over. this was their stop in SD. this tiny little town of Viborg. it was fun chatting pre-race.

So the gun went off at 6 a.m. and i was on my way. funny thing is i forgot my watch which i always use to see how i'm doing timewise (probably due to the 3:45 a.m. wake up time) so i had to go without. my half-marathon goal over the last year was to finish in the 1:40's. i had no idea how i was doing the entire race. so coming over the hill in the last stretch, i saw the clock. immediately i got the adreline rush...it said 1:46:16...so i booked it and crossed at 1:46:38. they handed me a medal and ribbon...first place for my age group. and it wasn't even 8 o'clock yet! it was a great race, loved the route, water/gatorade every 2 miles, nice people, beautiful weather. so thanks to god, friends, family and jon bon jovi, i made my personal record. and maybe because i wasn't staring at my watch the whole time. who knows? either way, i was really happy.

Got home from running and stumbled to the door (little stiff from the drive home!) we decided to take the ol' boat out fishing. the girls had a blast! they haven't been on the little boat for a couple of years so they thought it was pretty neat. it's not a fancy boat by any means. actually it's pretty old but it runs and it works for us. we fished and fished, broke a few lines, ate some snacks and brody caught the biggest fish. it was the only keeper anyway. we're eating it for supper tonight. by the time we got home, i was literally exhausted. i don't even remember going to bed.

It was a long day but such a great day. lots of memories were made and that's what matters. i love summer!