Mama Mia, it's about time!

I ran with an mp3 player for the first time ever today. Revolutionary!


In the past, I've had this Sony armband radio, with 10 preset stations, so I could switch from station to station til I found a good song to run to. But you know, sometimes there's just not a good song being broadcast anywhere in range, and it can be a little unwieldy to run with an entire radio on your arm. I haven't used it at all this summer, and I have missed running with music.

Today at the end of my 5.31 miles, I felt like the time had flown by and for the first time this summer I felt like I could have actually run a little further than I had planned on going. And it was even a Monday! Emily had helped me upload what little music we could quickly find on this computer: Taylor Swift, ABBA, and couple of random Tim McGraw songs. (This does not count the 850,000 songs that Steven has on here that I have never heard of/could never run to.) By the next time I run, I will have found the rest of the music I know I have around here - all of my favorite running songs that will help get me down the road, and around the greenbelt, as the mileage picks up on the way to St. George.

Running to the radio, you only ever hear current pop and country hits, so this was the first time I think I ever ran to ABBA. It was good fun, but the best beats-per-minute song turned out to be that Tim McGraw song with the BBQ stain on his white T-shirt. That song got me through the last quarter mile, and also made me think that this coming labor day weekend will be the one when Steven is 17.

The first marathon I trained for in 2001, the song that was played most often was Drops of Jupiter, so that always reminds me of running. I'll be needing that one, as well as the most played song of marathon training 2002, Kelly Clarkson - Miss Independent. Then there was the summer of Sheryl Crow. My playlist will have to include Legs by ZZ Top, Runnin' on Empty by Jackson Browne, and Foo Fighters, Learn to Fly (the song that was playing as I ran the morning Adam flew home from his mission.) More will occur to me. Songs that are slower I still like, if doubletime turns out to be a good running pace. Feel free to suggest songs to me that suggest running to you!

I'm really excited as I train to feel myself getting faster and stronger each day, even if by most standards I am neither fast nor strong. The other day the manager of the Eastern Idaho State Fair was walking around the lake, and I as ran past she said "Good for you!" to me. Yeah, Doris, good for me!

Twentynine

It's amazing how fast 29 years goes by! I am trying to think of something memorable Kerry and I can do today for our anniversary - after watching Emily's softball game tonight that is. Maybe we could head on over to Twentynine Palms, except I have to shop for groceries for Stake Girl's camp this weekend, so a trip will have to wait. Not sure a Marine Base is the best place for an anniversary trip anyway.

Here is a list of memorable Anniversaries past.

1st anniversary - we had a newborn, Adam was just 12 days old. We couldn't bear to leave him for even an hour so...we had our anniversary at Kerry's parent's house where they "babysat" Adam inside and we BBQ'd steaks outside on their back porch.

4th anniversary - we had another new baby, Veronica was just 3 mos old, and we lived in Wymount Terrace. Our good friends and neighbors, Steve and Mari Roberts, volunteered cheerfully to babysit for free so we could go out to dinner and a movie. The movie? Ghostbusters!

10th anniversary - We lived in Rexburg, and had 4 little kids. We took them to Grandma and Grandpa Park's for the day and went golfing at Jefferson Hills golf course and then out to dinner.

11th or 12th anniversary - June 25th that year was the Rexburg Relay For Life event, and Kerry had signed us up to walk a certain amount of time on the Basic American Foods team. We walked the same number of laps as the number of years we had been married. I think it was 12.

15th anniversary - It was a Sunday, so we just had a nice dinner with our little kids - no Emily yet - then went on a peaceful stroll around Smith Park. Our last anniversary in Rexburg.

24th anniversary - Simon & Garfunkle concert in Salt Lake city - the kids are now old enough to just leave them without grandparents or babysitters. We had a nice room at the Marriott downtown. Our seats were up pretty high, but it was a great concert.

25th anniversary - Maui! We had a condo right on Napili Bay. We snorkeled every day, went running up to the airport on the hill, took the road to Hana, climbed a volcano - and spent June 25th on a sunset dinner cruise. Perfect! There was a newlywed couple on our cruise, still in their wedding attire. We told them we would meet them back there in 25 years for their 25th anniversary and our 50th.

Usually we'll go out to dinner, or sometimes the Temple on our anniversary. Plans for our 30th anniversary next year are to go to Canada! We haven't been there since our wedding trip, it's just not on the way to anywhere. This time though, I think we will need a passport.

Purple Shirt

Since it's past midnight now...this is the day that is the last day of radiation. It's also the day of the Relay for Life. Thomas and Caley came down for the survivor's dinner tonight, and he got his official purple shirt. I think he looks super cool in purple.

Crossroads of the West

Today was fun, Steven flew for the first time. He is the Youth Governor for Idaho for 2010, and today began the national conference for all youth governors in Washington D.C. He had to be at the airport in Salt Lake by 6 a.m. in order to get to D.C. by this afternoon for orientation. Kerry got some photos of the governor going through security. The interesting thing is that today Veronica and Kyle flew home from their annual Outer Banks trip, so they were also in the Salt Lake airport, and probably crossed paths with Steven somewhere over the midwest. They had the same connections - Chicago departing and Denver returning.

And then, because it truly is the crossroads of the west, Marisa's friend Doug from the wiffleball game was also flying into SLC this morning returning from our favorite destination, HNL. I wouldn't be surprised if Sarah was also in the airport today, since SLC is her home base for her airline job.

It's also JC and Norma's 60th anniversary today, so truly momentous is this date in Park family travel history. 10 years ago today we were in Yellowstone for their 50th anniversary, when Adam was a brand new high school graduate who was still 17, the age Steven is now.

We had some time for a Sunday drive on the way home, so we stopped by the Utah Capitol Bldg. where Emily learned that her lot in life as the youngest child when all of the older children are gone is to get dragged around by her aged parents looking for things like the Mormon_Meteor. It wasn't there, it was vandalized and moved from the Capitol, so instead we found the Mormon Battalion monument and the name of Great, great, great (great, great?) Grandpa James Pollock Park from whence the J comes for all of the boys middle names.
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Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is Dad's 80th birthday. Or I guess, now that he has passed away, it is the 80th anniversary of his birth? Whatever, it's still his birthday and so in honor, I have this photo-booth strip that was taken in 1965, just before we moved to Idaho from California. I believe that this was my "school photo" for that year because I was the only one of my siblings too young for a school photo, at the age of 4 1/2. It's a treasure, this photo, surviving all these many years.

I was named after my dad - Ronna/Ronald and so then I went right ahead and named Veronica after both of us. (What she does with the "ron" suffix/prefix/infix is up to her.)

So you see, I had no bangs, my hair was blonde, and he was trying to make me say something because I really don't think I had that much of an overbite!

We always used to celebrate Dad and Mom's birthdays together, since hers is tomorrow, but now I guess Mom gets her own day and cake.

Today Emily will play her first flute solo in Sacrament meeting. I remember playing for my dad, and that he always thought I was wonderful. So at first, I was going to have Emily play a song that her Grandpa loved, but then we found "Stairway to Lasting Joy" in the old, orange Sing With Me primary songbook, which is a song Emily's dad loves. It should be a great memory, since we meet in the old 1st Ward building where Kerry attended primary long ago. I'm thankful for all of my happy childhood memories, and hope that my own kids have made some happy memories too.

Happy birthday daddy, wherever you are!

Creativity

Tonight was the Regional Reflections Awards ceremony, and it was fun because I didn't have to be in charge. I was just the State lady who got to come up on stage and hand out 5 awards, one of which was to Caley's little brother, so that was particularly fun. It got me thinking about the things which have been created by my 6 children over the years for the Reflections contest. It began with Adam in Kindergarten in West Jordan, and a dragon or dinosaur he drew for Reflections that year. We have the raining money photo, and Thomas in a suit with a handful of cash. Emily drew a picture of a "different kind of hero" which was the theme that year, of 2 missionaries. Adam did a collage once of a gameboy, when the theme was "If I had a wish." So in that round about way, I came to find this talk by Dieter Uchtdorf on creating, which is a talk from last year's Women's conference, and also this nicely done video. On behalf of all of the little artists, composers, and authors who created something for a PTA competition, or a card for Grandma, or a picture to hang on my fridge, I am posting this video here.

I Am Legend

I don't think that I have ever spent the night alone in my house before, in my lifetime. There has always been somebody else here. The past 2 nights and 3 days, it's been eery, just me and Scout the skittish cat, and no other human life forms. I don't mind solitude, and it's not like I haven't had any contact (Emily has texted me 20 or 30 times.) But I think I'm ready for people to come home now. I'm starting to talk to Scout, more than usual. Which reminds me, I miss Buttercup. And people. And voices (that aren't in my head!)