A story I forgot to tell

So I was at church today in the hall talking to a couple of friends about the funny thing that happened with my mom over Thanksgiving.  My one friend reads my blog and said, "Now I haven't read this on your blog!  You need to put it on there!"  So, for history's sake, here it is:

I love to go shopping on Black Friday.  I always dream of going with my mom or sisters too, like a lot of my friends do here.  But, because they don't live here I go alone :( or with friends! :) This year we were in St. George with my family, and while I was VERY disappointed to find my mom and sisters didn't do Black Friday, I was undaunted, and went out with Kayla.  Course we didn't get up until 7 to go.  I needed my sleep!

We hit a bunch of stores - Big 5, Old Navy, Children's Place - to name a few.  I had bags and bags of stuff -because of course the deals are so good!  I threw the bags in the back of the car and we went to meet up with the family.

Later, we decided to catch a movie.   Half of us (the boys) were going to Harry Potter, and half were going to see Tangled.  The bad news was Tangled was sold out for the whole day.  So we had to change plans.  The teenage girls wanted to see Morning Glory, and I did too.  However, I knew I couldn't take Addi to that - she'd never sit and watch it.  I couldn't send her in Harry Potter because she wouldn't like that either.  So, being the good mom I am, I was going to take Addi home and do something with her, because what else was I going to do?

Enter the best mom and dad ever - MINE! :)  They didn't want to see Harry Potter, and didn't care to see the other movie either, so they offered to take Addi and my little niece to the park and play while we went to the movie.  Me and my sis were all over that one!

I gave mom the keys and went in to lose myself in a movie.  Later that night, mom came to me a little nervous and said, "I have to tell you I had a little incident with your car."  Obviously my heart jumps a little, and I say, "Uh oh, what?"

She then relays to me the story.

She went to put the two little girls into the car.  She pressed the unlock button good and hard to make sure the doors unlock.  She straps the girls in, and her and dad get in and start driving down the road.  Suddenly she notices people are honking and pointing and causing a commotion.  She doesn't know what is going on.  She looks in her rear-view mirror, and notices things are laying in the road.  She checks the side view mirror and thinks it looks like bags and clothes.  She quickly pulls over to the side of the road and her and dad get out.  A couple other people have also gotten out of their cars to stop and help pick up whatever is all over the road.

For those of you who have SUVs that have the automatic back door opener, I'm sure you know what happened.  She had held down the unlock button for too long, and that automatically lifted the tail gate all the way open.  She was driving down the street with it totally up, and all my Black Friday purchases spilling out down the road for people to run over, etc.

Well, with the help of some nice strangers who stopped, they gathered up all the clothes and bags they could find and put them in the back of the car.

Now I had a darling white knit dress for Savannah with a perfectly placed tire mark right across the upper back, a couple of white shirts that were lovingly marked by the black road, and the rest of the clothes were too dark to tell. :)

Not to worry - it all washed out, and we got a good laugh out of it.  But, I can't help but picture this as the perfect Seinfeld episode!  In fact I'm sure there was one where Kramer was driving some mail truck and dropping mail out all over the highway or something.  My life is kind of a sitcom at times, isn't it?

Friday Fun

I love Fridays. Who doesn't?
The end of the school week, beginning of the weekend, and for me - I get to teach 3 classes almost back to back, which obviously translates into getting to eat more, right?

Days like today make teaching totally worth it. First of all, I love teaching fitness classes, but it is even better when you get notes like the one I did from a lady at class today. First, she stopped me after class and told me how I was THE BEST! (wow! someone doesn't get out much!) Then, she left me a note. May I be so arrogant as to quote it? I will - to make up for the days that someone walks out of my class because they hate me! :(

She said,

Thanks so much for Terrific Classes!! I look forward to ALL your classes and I use your stories until the next week to cheer my family and friends. Your classes are like a living sitcom ... thanks for sharing!!!

Noreen


The living sitcom reference must be in regards to my Addi (or any other personal, or child-related) updates in class. They love to hear her latest antics while they are groaning in pain on their 100th squat pulse.

Today's story came from yesterday's experience.

I was at the nail salon, having just had my eyebrows waxed (a necessity I discovered 10 years too late - look at old pictures - you'll agree! :). I was checking out, and there was a very, very, very large woman sitting in the chair behind us. I was holding Addi who was feeling a little sick. I smiled at the woman and she started a conversation with me, telling me where she was from, etc, and how she had laryngitis and had a really scratchy voice right now. I told her I was sorry she was sick, and my little Addi here was sick too!

At that very moment, Addi perks up, points to the lady and says, "Mommy does she have a big fat tummy?"

Yikes!!!!! I look at the lady's face. There is no mistaking that she heard the whole thing - how could she not? I frantically search my brain for a smooth, quick save from my obviously non-socially refined 3 year old! I quickly say, "No . . . she has laryngitis!!" Addi looks at me questioningly and I explain the lady is sick and her voice is scratchy. Addi totally looks confused now, and I am sure she is going to ask again. So then I say, "We need to get you to the potty! Let's go!" And I bid her goodbye, and quickly walked to the back of the salon to the bathroom.

Seriously what the H do you do in that situation? I hate that! This is not the first child something like that has happened with too!

Anyway, everyone got a good laugh from that.

After class I passed out my Christmas Kisses - Hershey's kisses. Which, incidentally, every person chose the dark chocolate. I thought I was the only one who liked dark chocolate. I know that's my first choice every time - especially when it is the smooth, silky kind. They say it is healthy for you! I'm pretty sure the quantities I would like would knock me out of healthy and into obsessive and probably not be the best for your health! :)

THEN - to top it all off - I got to go out to lunch with my awesome friend Sherry at Chili's today!  You gotta love good friends and good conversation.  So glad she graced me with her presence! ;)

So there's my Friday Fun folks!!

Ladies and Gentlemen (or dad - who may be the only man who reads this?) A guest blogger -----

Lane had the pleasure of delivering our Secret Santa with Savannah and Conner the other night. After relaying the story of how it all went down, I begged him to write it up for the enjoyment of everyone else. So here's his first (and possibly only) blog entry on my blog! Now you all can see one of the many reasons I love the guy . . .

The GETAWAY

My love for my kids is best described as one Oxymoronic mixture of love and fury. How about you? In one moment you can be stroking your kids hair with the left hand whilst yanking out your own with the right.

Where else can you have an angelic 3-year-old hop onto your lap and give you a darling little hug -- covered in poop?

Case in point: Every Christmas, the Cooks love our tradition of buying Christmas for a family in need. My kids love the excitement of going to the store for a short, furious buying bonanza, then going home to wrap all the loot. Best of all, they love the adrenalin rush of dropping off all the treasure at the family’s front door in the dead of night, ringing the bell and running to the getaway car. They talk about the Getaway a lot, and what the people’s reaction must be when they see all the presents.

2 nights ago we are ready for the great door scene. It stars a middle-aged, creaky Dad and my psyched up kids Conner (6) and Savannah (9).

We case the joint out like seasoned mobsters, and I review with them the plan twice: I will carefully park the truck just 20 yards away while we quietly tiptoe with our loot and stack it at the front door. Then the gimpy old man will get back in the truck, move it 50 yards down the street out of sight and wait. Then AND ONLY THEN will my kids ring the bell, hair standing on the back of their necks, and run like the wind for the Getaway. I am concerned about the many cars and how well lit the street is, but we forge ahead.

Remember that my 43-year-old carcass is not finely tuned for such an event. My right ankle barely works, my knees creak like Abe Bagoda’s without a Snicker Bar, and my right shoulder hurts so bad I can't lift my arm above my head.

So I carefully tiptoe through the front lawn, holding an 80-pound garbage bag of presents in either arm. Behind me follow Conner and Savannah, each holding a 2-pound gift bag. As I reach the door and begin placing the sacks, I hear a HUUUUGE CRAAAASH and groan, as Conner trips, sprawling spread eagle onto the sidewalk. The gift bag crunches during the fall, and Conner’s flip-flops go flying, while his mouth forms a moan that he immediately stifles.

Savannah completely freaks out. She stands paralyzed like a statue in the grass, giftbag welded to her hand. Dogs start barking in the house – we are in trouble.

“Put the bag up here and ring the bell Savannah!, Conner forget it, grab your shoes and run to the truck!” I hiss, while grabbing Conner’s crumpled package. Lights in the house come on and I hear voices coming.

Conner limps off, but Savannah stays frozen, unable to uncurl her cold fingers from the bag handles. “I can’t Dad, they’ll catch me!” Now that our plan is fully kaput and we have only seconds until being discovered, I react.

“Run Savannah to the truck NOW!” I spit. Whilst tearing her bag free, I gouge at the doorbell, and take off, running like a gazelle.

A gazelle? Imagine a doughy, 3 legged beast running underwater – that’s what I mean. It hurts as I activate muscles that haven’t been used since the Jimmy Carter administration, and they groan and fire stabs of pain throughout my body as I deftly launch myself into the truck and floor it down the street.

So in the end, we get away. 2 minutes later my kids talk like the plan was a marvelous success, and their deft scheme went off like clockwork.

Now you understand my definition of Parental love as a mixture of love and venom. I LOVE IT (I think).


Mom's side note: So, so sad that I missed the show!!

Our own version of "The Office"

We aren't Dunder Mifflin, we are Visionmakers. We don't have Michael Scott, we have Lane Cook.

We don't have Jim, Pam, Dwight, etc. etc., we have Eduardo, Daniel, Mike, Carlos, Saul, Josh, and I guess once a week, they have me! (Kathryn)

Yeah, we are a bit smaller than last year :( but we are still alive and kicking, which is more than most of our competitors can say. It has been a brutal 2-3 years in the building and construction industry. Sometimes I ask myself why on earth Lane left the corporate world to start this business, but I think things are just hard everywhere.

So, we tried to scale down the Christmas party this year, but actually found that hosting it at your house really doesn't save you anywhere near enough money to make it worth all the work you go through to host! Lane learned the lesson, and I am happy to report that we will be going back to renting a room at a restaurant next year! :)

However, we did have a great time with employees and spouses/dates. We always start out meeting at Wal-mart and buying Christmas for a family. We make it a fun game. Each couple gets a paper with the name, age and list of ideas of gifts for a child or parent. Then they get $100 and have 30 mins to go buy stuff for the person. They have to be checked out and back to our meeting place in time. Also, you have to spend as close to $100 without going over. The couple who gets the closest without going over gets everyone else's change. Does that make sense? It is so fun. This year Lane and I were 5 cents under $100 and thought for sure we would win. But no, someone else was only 2 cents under! I love all the weird looks we get from people as we are all congregated at the front of the store with our carts full of stuff seeing who got what.

Anyway, we love doing Christmas for someone else. Everyone loves the tradition and really gets into it. It always feels better to give than receive, I say!

After shopping we returned to our house for a yummy dinner brought in from one of my favorite restaurants, Red, White and Brew. Yum! And no company party of Lane's is complete without some quizzes or trivia. I kid you not, the night before the party he was up til after 2 a.m. making these trivia posters. One was a bunch of company logos they had to name, the other were pictures that you had to figure out what Christmas carol it was naming. It actually was fun. I liked the Pictionary the best though, and I think everyone else did too.

We had a great time, tried to shovel in some dessert at the end, and everyone went home happy and tired. Now if we could just get rid of all the leftovers before they find their way into my stomach!!!!!

The gorgeous sunset at our house Thursday night.

These pictures were taken by my 9 year old standing in our backyard.  For all the things I don't like about living in Arizona, (like 75* at Christmas time!) I have to say we do have beautiful sunsets!

Seriously could eat the kid . . . but I'm not a cannibal :)

My friend said on a previous blog that 3 year olds are the best blog material.  She wasn't kidding.  This kid is hilarious and a nightmare all at the same time!

We are in the thick of "I do it" and changing outfits 15 times a day.  She HAS to dress herself, and does it all too often.  If there were an award for best dumper of drawers and clothes on the floor - she would win hands down.

She started the day not so good by arriving at church with no panties on.  (Fortunately I wasn't there! :) ) This is not the first time.  A 3 year old in a dress with no panties on is not a good thing.  Heaven help us.  Unfortunately, we weren't the ones who discovered it.  It was probably the whole congregation watching her climb over and under the pews to get up to a girl she wanted to see a few rows up. (At least that's the report I got from Kayla.)   Oh well. . .

But she comes home, goes downstairs and comes up looking like this.  How can you not love that?????  She's the family superhero!

Now, 3 outfit changes later, Addison has come in with her snow pants on.  "This is fer when there's snow mom!"  I don't have the heart to tell her she won't be using those where we live!

Still super cute though!

Uh oh, now that perfect little angel just called her brother a butt head, so I have to go wash her mouth out with soap.  Where did she learn that????????

The Great Thanksgiving Gathering of 2010

We haven't been together with all 8 siblings and their spouses and children in years.  I really can't remember the last time??  It has probably been about 10 years - maybe more.  I guess that's what you get when you have 8 very independent children who live all over the west.

Thankfully, this Thanksgiving everyone was willing to make the sacrifice to congregate in St. George, Utah and celebrate together!  Wow, it added up to over 40 people.  Yikes!  Karrie, Kyle and Kurt brought their families from California, I came from AZ, Kelson and mom and dad from North Utah, and Keith, Kaelyn and Kamille are there in Southern Utah.  (Yes, all of our names start with K)

We had such a great time though with dinner in Scott and Kaelyn's front room.  Thank heaven it was the size of a football field - with a TV at one end showing football all day! :)

Although it was a nippy 20* at night, and a high in the 40s - brrr - we had a great time.  The kids didn't mind.  They played in the leaves.  Imagine that - leaves fall off the trees and you rake them up and play with them!  We don't have that in AZ.





Of course with all of us together, we had to take pictures of everyone.  I'll get copies of those soon.   I don't have any of the entire family, but Lane did get some of just the siblings.    Funny thing is we are all so different from each other with interests and talents, etc.  Really mom and dad - where on earth did we come from?  Are you sure we aren't all adopted?

Case in point here.  Four honest to goodness biological sisters.  How is that possible?  I see no similarity at all!  What is with that?  However, can I say I love my sisters for all their differences and things they teach me?

P.S. - If you wonder where Lane is in all of this - he was planted in front of the TV with the other sports nuts.  I love me some good football, but not all day long!  Glad he was happy though! :)  Sadly, this is the only picture I got of him.

Conner's Phoenix Zoo Field Trip

You always know it's coming.  You see the flyer with info about the field trip.  Then the inevitable happens, "Mom?  Will you please come with us?  You know parents can come!"  I actually don't mind going on the field trips, but let's be honest - it isn't a party the whole time.  Plus, it seems like they are always on a Tuesday!  That is the day I teach 3 classes.  That means I have to get subs for my classes, and I miss my workout. :(

Anyway, I got up before the sun and did my 6 mile run so I could go do the field trip.  I would later discover that early morning run wasn't that necessary, as I would get my own workout at the zoo!

I get assigned 4 six year old boys.  Wow, I've never done a field trip with boys, just girls.  They are a whole different breed that's for sure!  They are hungry, hyper and happy the whole time.

On the bus

Getting off the bus, the teacher mentions that J broke his leg and just got his cast off recently, so he is still limping.  If he gets tired, call her and she'll come get him.  I say no problem.  It isn't until we are walking down to the zoo that I see he is severely limping and hop/skipping around!  Wow, this kid is gonna be tired.

We traipse through the zoo seeing all the cool animals, getting "lost" on a desert trail, laughing at the pink monkey butts, and of course asking when we are going to eat.  Little J is gimping along trying to keep up with the boys.  I offer a piggy back ride and he accepts.  I start to wonder what exactly I signed up for.  At each exhibit, I have to keep DJ from practically jumping over the fence and joining the animals.  I start to wonder if there might be some behavioral issues there too.

We finally get over to the lunch part and boys are happy to start eating. That's where it gets all sorts of fun. One boy's name is Tucker.  Here's the conversation after:
DJ: Hey Tucker, you know your name rhymes with  **** er.   (You don't have to be too creative to figure what he said)
Another boy:  Hey!  You said a bad word!!
Another boy: What did he say?
DJ : ****er
Another boy:  Hey!  You just said the F-bomb!  Mrs. Cook!  He said the F-word!

Obviously I try to not overreact.  Hey, I say, we don't talk like that!  In fact DJ, don't you have some medicine you need to take?  Go ask your teacher for it!

Teacher comes over and I ask what DJ's situation is.  ADHD.  I thought so.  This is the first field trip he's been able to come on because he's usually so bad they don't let him go.  Aside from the little language issue, and trying to climb in with the lions and tigers, he has been pretty OK.

Now I'm starting to feel special (?) that the teacher felt I was capable enough to handle the kid who can hardly walk and ADHD boy.  (She obviously doesn't know my history with Addi running away! :)   She also gives me hope by telling me in about 1/2 hour DJ will start to calm down when the medicine starts kicking in.

We continue on to the petting zoo.  Except the boys get caught up on the little playground with the fake plastic animals.  What the heck boys????  We got real, live animals right here to touch and feel and we are on the playground?  So we made it to the goats, and it was time to go.

Conner petting the goat

I now realize we are supposed to meet at the buses at 12:45, and it is 12:35 and we have quite a walk ahead of us.  So, I scoop up J in my arms and hold him like a honeymoon bride and take off running up the switchbacks out of the kids area racing the other boys.  I'm pretty sure people are wondering what the heck this lady with a large kid in her arms and 3 other boys around is doing running up the trail.  I was wondering myself!

Then J wants down.  We walk for a while, and I can tell he is so tired, but he is embarrassed to be carried by me.  He asks the other boys to carry him piggy-back.  Problem is, they are all the same size!  Finally, I convince him to let me carry him piggy back again.  He won't wrap his legs around me though.  He is basically stiff as a board hanging off my back, and I am holding on to him for dear life somehow around the back of me!  We are cruising along and it occurs to me to ask where he broke his leg.

His femur - a few inches below his hip.
Ouch!
Now I know why he is limping so bad, and didn't want to put his legs up around me.  It probably hits on his leg right where he broke it!

Sweet J hopping along

Finally, my arms are about to break off and we still have to get up the little hill to the buses.  I shift him way up, make him wrap his legs around me, and feel much better to race to the bus and get there by 12:50.

Like I said, probably didn't need to do the run this morning.

Oh well, it was all worth it to see the total pride and joy on my boy's face that his mom was there.

Now to figure out how to be at Savannah's Thanksgiving feast serving pie at the same time I am doing Conner's Turkey Trot out on the playground.

Man, being mother of the year is HARD! :)

The Doctor is In!

At the risk of turning this into a blog all about Addi, I have to put this story down.

Last night we were downstairs in the theater (the first time in months! ugh!) watching Karate Kid with the kids.  Lane was laying on the floor saying his back hurts so bad, and the ibuprofen he had taken wasn't helping.

I joked with him that I was too much for him on the basketball court - because we had just played out on our court with the kids.  And - as a side note on our little one on one game - he proved it's more important to be accurate in your shot than able to move about!  I can outrun and move (even after running 5 miles right before), but he can shoot, dribble and score like Steve Nash!  Dangit!  Looks like I need to brush up on my basketball skills!  Maybe some lessons? ha!

Anyway, he is moaning on the ground about his back, and it is Addi to the rescue.  First she runs and gets a cup of cold water, puts her hands in it, and runs over to Lane and puts her hands on his back.  She pats and rubs it with her cold hands.  She says, "I'm the doctor!" She goes back and forth doing it many times.  Then she disappears upstairs and comes down with some little baggie in her hand.  She runs over to dad, and starts putting the bag on daddy's back.  I asked her "What do you have Addi?"  "A cold bag," she says.  Oh, I figure she remembers seeing us put a bag of frozen peas or corn on bumps as an "ice pack".  But I also know this isn't a bag of frozen veggies.  I can't tell what it is.

So I ask, "What is in the bag?"
"It's chicken!  I put it on daddy's back to get better!"
There you have it folks, a cold chicken breast ice pack.

She is so dang cute.

Random Thoughts, and Alzheimers

 So I'm sitting here at the computer with my brat  angel of a child.  She wants to listen to "Taylor Switch" on the puter.  So, instead of wiping off the counters from breakfast, folding the 3 piles of laundry on the family room couch, making my bed I didn't have time to make this morning, or showering because I stink, I am here to do a blog about random things. (This is kind of my journal, you know!)

The brat/angel Addi

So, here's the notable list:

1)  I tried Sweet potato pie for the first time this week.  And, it was GOOD!  I mean, really good!  My friend at the gym brought a homemade one in, and I caved to the peer pressure of everyone who said how good it was, and I tried it.  Wow, I was really pleasantly surprised!   So, just goes to show you can try and like new things, even when you have gone 30-something years without ever trying it!  Course, then I am of the mind of why try or acquire a taste for something that is really not all that good for you?  It's just one more thing you have to say no to that you really, really want!  Oh well, I just have to say it was very good.

2)  I have to laugh when people say to me, "I bet you eat really good."  That's what the Dr. said to me today.  I laughed, because I thought of what I ate yesterday, and thought, Hmm... that's probably not a recommended diet for anyone!!  A protein shake for breakfast followed by 2 double stuff oreos.  Then, a Flying Saucer with that to-die-for green salsa from Tia Rosa's, as well as chips and salsa.  Followed by a handful of Hershey's kisses, more Oreos, a handful of almonds, 2 bites of the kids dinner, and then at 10:30 at night some kettle corn popcorn (because I hadn't had dinner!).  Like I said, not the best eater.  Course I guess that depends on what your definition of a good eater is!  I eat good, just not good food all the time.  Now, yesterday was not a normal day of eating for me though.

3)  The other night I was getting the kids ready for bed, and Conner comes in and says, "Mom, if I'm ever on TV and they have bring a parent day, I'm gonna bring you and dad."  "Really?  I hope you would, because we are your parents!  Who else would you bring?"   He says, "Well, I don't know, maybe a cousin or something."  I don't know, that was funny to me.

4)  My friend blogged about having Alzheimers, or the onset of it.  I am in the same boat as her.  I forget stuff.  I just call it mommy brain, but that was taken to a new level last week.  The kids didn't have school last Thursday on Veteran's day.  So I took them to an afternoon movie.  We came home around 7 p.m. and driving through the neighborhood I saw a ton of cars at my friend's house.  I thought, "Wow, they must be having a big family party!  How fun!"  I went in my house, fed the kids, did who knows what, watched TV, etc.  

The next morning, my other friend posted how thankful she was for good friends and the great baby shower she had the night before.  Yup, it was my friends' baby shower, and I forgot!  I drove right by the house, and forgot!  I went in on the group gift the day before, and I forgot!  Do I have Alzheimers????

5)  Lane and I went to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas last night at Gammage.  I gave the show a C, but the Grinch himself an A++++.  If it wasn't for him, the show would have been pretty lame.  He was super good.  We were wishing we had the kids with us because they would have loved it.  Oh well.

6)  Mom and dad are going to try living here for a month or so.  So, so excited!  I would love them to buy a winter place here, so before they commit and do it, they are going to rent a place for January and part of February and try it out!  I'll have to be sure to be on my best behavior and show them how low-maintenance of a daughter I am (because truly I am), and how darling and angelic my kids are (that may be harder) and how much fun the snowbirds have down here!  Wish me luck convincing them! 

Alright, off to the shower to get ready for the day.  Heck, it's only 3:30 and I'm finally getting around to it!  We have tix to yet another show tonight at Hale Theater.  I didn't realized they were back to back when I got them.  Poor Lane - he really is ready to trade me in for a different model of wife.  Like the one who stays home, cooks, cleans, sews, and reads scriptures all day! ha!   He really missed the boat on that wife when he married me, huh?  He really is a saint for putting up with me.  At least life is always a little exciting! :)  Love ya hon!

One more check off the bucket list!

I did it!  I ran the Shun the Sun Half Marathon yesterday in downtown Mesa. 


One of my goals for this year was to run a half marathon, and yesterday was the day!


13.2 miles in 1 hour 50 mins. and 51 seconds.  
According to the race results website, that is an 8:27 mile.   


Hey!  Not too shabby for my first run! :)  I took 27th out of all the women runners (around 180).  Yeah, unlike my last race, this time I didn't "cheat!" ha!

Too bad I forgot my camera, but I didn't have anyone to take pictures anyway, we were all running! 


So, so fun, and so, so sore today.

We came, we saw, we conquered! - warning - extremely long!

Where do I even begin?  Seriously, where do I begin?  Do I start at the beginning and do a blow by blow for my own "journal" entry or just try to summarize quickly?

Sorry, I gotta lay it all out there with the sordid details.  No one has to read this but me later, when I want to relive the trip.

Our New York trip was awesome! :)  6 weeks ago my very good friend Sara Visser called from Arkansas (her husband is an exec in Walmart).  She is turning 40 this month and wanted to see Wicked in New York, with us!  So of course I couldn't turn that invitation down!  I tried to tell her we would love to come as long as they are paying, but they didn't buy into that part - darnit!  We visited them in China 3 years ago, had a blast and were dying to get together with them again.  They are one of those rare friendships where you all totally get along and have a blast and could live together (as we did for a week when we were total strangers 18 years ago) forever and be OK!  We love them!

We started out with a 4 1/2 hour direct flight.  Of course we were the lucky couple who got to sit by the single dad with his almost 2 year old on his lap.  Hey, I have 4 kids, so I have a lot of tolerance for that, because I have been there - yuck!  The problem with this was the guy was severely under-prepared for his job.  In fact he had not a thing except a bag of cheez-its to entertain that poor little kid the whole flight!

Jovan - or Baby J (as I later found out) was so cute, but very bored!  The dad apparently hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before, because he sat there sleeping while Baby J stood on the floor trapped between his dad's legs and the seat in front of him.  He whined, cried, bounced off the seat in front of him, climbed up and down on his dad, and just wanted someone to pay attention to him!  Apparently the  dad could dress the kid in his Laker's jersey and Nike shoes, but couldn't spend $5 for a new toy or two for the plane?  After about 2 hours, and feeding him some of our food, and giving him anything that could be construed as a toy to entertain him, Lane got up to walk around.  I was by the window, so I took Baby J on my lap and had him look out the window, sang songs with him, looked through the sky mall magazine and found dogs, cats, decorations, anything a kid would want to look at.  His dad slept.

Finally, he started getting tired.  I let him listen to some soft music on my i-pod and he was about to sleep when he decided he wanted to sleep on his dad's lap.  So I finally got the nerve to wake up the dad and ask him to take his kid back and hold him.  So, the dad took the kid and the kid fell asleep for the last hour of the flight.  What a sweet kid.  He kept patting my chest and calling me mommy.  (Should I be glad he still isn't nursing? ha!)

Yeah, the dad never did say a word to me.  Wow.  (Really I just felt bad for the kid - didn't need a big thanks, but it would have been nice anyway.)

So we get to JFK and get in line for a shuttle.  Some guy comes up and tells us he is $4 cheaper per person for his shuttle.  So we went with him.  It was a nice 11 passenger van, and was quite roomy until he filled it with 13 Germans and us.  At least Lane got the front seat!

We stayed in a really nice hotel called the Affinia 50.  Got it on Priceline for only $170 a night!  It even had a little kitchenette - which is really unheard of for Midtown Manhattan!  We only stayed there one night because I booked a different hotel to meet up with our friends.

Anyway, it was misty, rainy and cold.  We knew it was going to rain all the next day as well.  I was bummed, because I didn't want Sara's first time to NY to be all rainy!

We unloaded our stuff (after thoroughly checking for bed bugs because suddenly Lane has a paranoia about those) and headed out to explore.  We went to a great pizza place called Angelo's for real NY pizza.  So good.  Then we happened to walk by a bakery and just HAD to go in and buy a cupcake for each of us.

Lane doing his New Yorker face

We hit the hay planning to wake up early and try to get in standby to Regis and Kelly.  As you'll see below, we got in! :)

We first caught a taxi, and we are thinking the driver just got off the boat the day before.  Not sure if he really spoke English, and I know he didn't know how to turn the defroster on in the taxi, because the whole van was fogged up.  You couldn't see a thing, and he had a kleenex in his hand and was trying to wipe off the windshield in front of him to see!  Scary!

Anyway, man, TV is so very interesting to me.  I still would DIE to be a sports broadcaster (tennis or basketball) but, I digress.  Regis is little, and Kelly is littler!  They were supposed to have Tina Fey on, but her "live" interview had been pre-taped at another time.  BUMMER!  But we had Jessica Seinfeld cook her spinach something, and Jerry showed up as a surprise to help!  So that was cool.  He is very funny to me.  I miss his show.

Then we listened to the Neon Trees sing Animal.  Funny thing is - they are from Provo, UT.  Are you kidding?  Not a typical BYU student band.  Maybe they went to UVU???  Then after the show was over, they did a bonus taping of Michael Eisner (CEO of Disney) who wrote a new book.  Yawn.  But, oh well.  It really was fun!



P.S. - Kelly has a weird outie belly button.  How do I know this?  You could totally see it her dress was so tight.  I'm pretty sure she has enough money to get that fixed!

We then went to our hotel to change to our other hotel, the W, which as luck would have it was across the street! Good deal and great hotel - across from the Waldorf-Astoria.

That afternoon we did Times Square in the rain - not fun, and defrosted in Rockefeller Center doing the NBC Experience tour.  I really recommend this.  It was cool!  We were being guided through various sets and hearing all sorts of facts about the magic and fakeness of TV and all these shows!  The SNL info and set was very interesting.  Then, we happened to be on the set of Dr. Oz, and in walks Dr. Phil!  Maybe he was a little confused?  No, he was the guest on Jimmy Fallon which also tapes there, so he was just walking around checking out the studio.  Cool, huh?

Chocolate Cheesecake at Junior's at Times' Square

Hershey's Store at Times' Square

Famous skating rink at Rockafeller Center

That night we went to see Promises, Promises.  It stars Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenowith and Molly Shannon joined the cast recently.  Unfortunately, Kristin was off that night.  I wanted to see her so bad.  Sean and Molly were good though.  Lane gave the show a C, I gave it about a B.

Friday morning we woke up and met John and Sara.  Man I love those guys!  Isn't it funny how with good friends you pick up with like it was yesterday you saw them, and not 3 years ago?

We went to a NY Deli for breakfast, then went to Top of the Rock to get a view of the whole city.  Cool up there!  Then we took the Staten Island ferry to check out the Statue of Liberty.

On top of Top of the Rock

Next came Grimaldi's Pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge.  Apparently this pizza place is in all the books of the best places.  We went around 3 p.m. and there was a line waiting outside, so we decided it must be good.  It was.  I really like NY Pizza, now that I know what it really is! :)

After a 30 minute power nap for everyone but me, we headed to the Knicks game in Madison Square Garden.  Wow, the New York crowd is interesting!  I have to say I kinda like the Suns games better - there is more action during the breaks, etc.  But it was a good experience to check off the bucket list.

Going home we passed a deli that had cheesecake in the window.  Sara got a piece, so of course I had to get one too!  We got up to our rooms, and I hurried and ate the whole piece at around midnight.  Naughty me.

Next morning we checked out the Manhattan temple.  John, Sara and I went in.  Lane stayed in the Starbucks across the street because he left his wallet with his recommend in the hotel.  Grrr... Oh well.  We decided the flier someone gave him about the rapture coming in May next year would have to do for his religious training of the day! ha!

We then had breakfast at a great place in Columbus Ave. and met up with our friend Ryan who is from AZ but living in New Jersey and working in Manhattan.  We all decided to do the Grey Line tour.  I highly recommend these as they give you tons of information and you are able to see so much that wouldn't normally do on your own.

Lunch in Little Italy

We shopped in Chinatown, had lunch in Little Italy, checked out Ground Zero (which is kind of a let down because it is all fenced and covered up!) and Sara and I finished the day by shopping in Century 21.  Kind of like a Nordstrom Rack.  Don't worry - we sent the boys home one the subway and said we'd join them later.

We got a little caught up shopping, and found some OK deals, and filled some bags!  I of course even bought some of the Godiva chocolate at the counter just because I was having a chocolate craving. (I get those waaaayyyy too often)  

We then realized we were down in lower Manhattan and it was 6:45, and we had to be to Wicked in Times Square by 8.  We took off out to the subway.  Too bad we caught the express train that went right by the stop we needed.  So we got off the next one and got on the train going back the other way.  Then we got up to the street and took off running because it was now 7:15 and we had to leave at 7:30.  Ooops!  We were running the wrong way!  So we backtracked to our hotel, got to our rooms and quickly changed and freshened ourselves and took off for the show. 

Some of the NY marathon runners on the subway - I'm not kidding!

You really see all types down there!

 I am now in my cute black boots with heels and a *snug* skirt (it was a fitted skirt even before I started the NY eating frenzy).  We are going to get a taxi, yet they all are full.  So we start walk/running the mile toward the theater hoping to find a taxi on the way.  We never did.  However, I apparently gained a whole new level of respect from John for my ability to walk or run in my boots! The price we pay to look good, right ladies?

We made it in time, and the show was fantastic.  My 5th time seeing it.  My first time in NY though!

It was almost midnight as we were walking back to our hotel.  Sara saw a deli/pizza/bakery open.  Uh-oh.  We walked in . . . then had them warm up a piece of pizza for each of us.  Pizza at midnight.  Thank heaven there was only one piece of pecan pie bar left - Sara and John had it, thus saving me the job of having to say no to buying one of those!

The next morning was sadly our last day.  We got half price tickets to the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular.  I had heard it was very good, so we all decided to go.  You know what?  It is really good!  As we were sitting there I started to think, "Uh oh, I am going to owe Lane so bad for this."  But it was really good!  Whew!  I didn't need him holding that over my head for the next 20 years! :)

In Radio City Music hall for the Rockette's show

Finally, to finish our trip we headed to the Carnegie Deli - which also is very famous for its sandwiches. Yeah, if you haven't been there before I don't know if I can properly describe the food!  You order a Reuben sandwich and it is $24.95!!! It is the biggest, highest thing you've ever seen, and it is amazingly good. (I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it!)  So, you figure you can't eat the whole thing, so you'll share it with your date.  You know what?  They will let you share - all for the bargain price of $3!!  Yup, they charge you to share!!!  Although if you do some quick math, you will see that $3 to share a sandwich is a lot cheaper than $24.95 for another monstrosity!  Plus, they don't do refills on drinks.  Wow - what a racket!   Lunch only cost us $75 (cash) for the 4 of us, and each couple shared!   But it was yummy, and we rolled ourselves out of there and got back to the hotel.

We caught a taxi to the airport, and besides the fact that he asked us 3 different times which airport we were going to, the rest of the trip went off without a hitch.  What a great time!  We packed a ton of stuff in, and loved every second of it!  Sara summed it up nicely by saying, "This is not one of those trips you go home all relaxed from, is it?"  Nope!  Too much to see and do.  

So Happy 40th Birthday Sara!! I am so glad to have you as such a good, wise and wonderful friend.  Some day, somehow we will be next door neighbors and all will be right with the world! :)  Can't wait for my 40th birthday trip! :)

Now it's back to reality.  Thank heaven I like most of my reality. 

Let's hear it for New York!

What do you do when you have so much to do you don't know where to start?  Sit down and write a blog!

Yeah, that isn't going to help anything.  Just wanna say I am so excited to go to NYC tomorrow morning! Broadway shows, the Knicks basketball game, the Rockettes show, seeing great friends, and shopping and eating.  Should be fun!

See you all when I get back! :)

Happy Halloween!!!

We had a good time at the trunk or treat. I shouldn't have bought such good chocolate candy to pass out . . . I'm gonna be sick.

The Tri that turned into a Bi . . .

The Lake Powell Triathlon 2010.

Last year I took my good friends Lisa and Beth to Casa Grande to do a sprint triathlon.  We loved it so much we decided we needed a bigger challenge.  Enter the Powell3.

Lisa, Beth and I decided we would go for the Olympic length this time.  That means 1 mile swim, 24 mile bike ride, and 6.2 mile run (10K).  Scary, but we knew we would train together and get ourselves ready, and man what a goal to achieve!

So, we trained together since July.  Tons of early mornings of riding, or running or swimming, or 2 of the 3 to "brick" our training.  It was crazy, but kinda fun to push each other and talk about who did what each day.  It also was funny to see how driven some of us were (Beth) and how laid back others were (me).  

Anyway, we got up Friday morning to drive up to the metropolis of Page, AZ.  Lisa came in the truck with Lane and I.  Lane was nice enough to be our chauffer, photographer and cheerleader.  While on the freeway in the northern part of Phoenix, I suddenly had a thought - my running shoes!  Did I pack them?  I don't remember?  We pulled over to an off-ramp and I got my bag out of the back, and sure enough - I hadn't.  Really?  Really.  Good thing the Anthem outlets were right there, and the Nike store that we had just stopped and bought new running shoes at last week was there.  So, we stopped and I bought another  pair of running shoes.  Kinda thought I'd need them.  

We got up north, and found it was cold and raining.  Not good for what was supposed to be perfect weather for our race!  We met up with the Adairs (Beth's family) at the Page version of Olive Garden.  It was called Strombolli's, where we ordered the "Tour de Italy" and found it should really be called the "Tour de Page".   Yeah, we are thinking a Hot Pocket covered in spaghetti sauce probably would have tasted about the same.   And the water leaking in from the roof into the big buckets behind our seats really added to the ambiance of the restaurant.

Saturday morning dawned with the hope that maybe we would see the sun, but the weather gods were not so kind.

Our little group was Beth, Lisa and I.  Then, Beth's daughters Chelsea and Shelby, and Beth's husband decided to come do it too, and hardly even trained!  Crazy!  

Transition area

We set up all our stuff at the transition station.  You are crammed in there like sardines, and you just hope someone doesn't throw your stuff somewhere.  As I looked around I started to realize this isn't your novice or beginner triathlon.  These people are for real.  One guy was sitting on his bike pedaling while it was propped up on some holder, others were jogging around, others got in the water and swam around a bit to "warm up".  We even met a guy we named "Baker Boy"  He had brought himself some corn starch to sprinkle in his shoes (How does that help?  I don't know) and he had some Pam baking spray to spray his body for the wet suit to go on and off better.  Mix those two ingredients with the rain we got, and he could have made some gravy!

Ok - who came up with this hot look?

Anyway, the people were set up to leave in waves.  The Olympic men started first in 2 different waves, then the Olympic women left.  As we rounded the buoy to go around for the last time, they allowed the men who are doing the sprint to go.  I felt like I was being overtaken by a ton of piranhas.  I held my ground, and finally finished the swim.  I am a slow swimmer - I think there may have been like 5 ladies after me!  Ugh!!

But, undaunted, I got out of the water and ran up the huge steep boat ramp to the transition area.  I quickly stripped my wetsuit off and threw on my bike shoes and decided to wear my jacket because it was raining and gonna be cold.

Changing for the bike ride that wasn't

I hopped on the bike and took off, and almost instantly knew something was wrong.  I was riding and pedaling pretty hard, and was only going 12 miles an hour.  My handles were shaking and rattling, and I was going slow!  I kept pushing thinking maybe my legs just needed to wake up and go, but the harder I worked, the more my bike shook.  I checked my speedometer again, and it said 12 mph.  I was going to keep my speed around 18 mph, so I was really worried.  I thought I was in for a long ride.  Well, after about 1 1/2 miles, I finally got off to see what was wrong.  My front tire was flat.  Dangit!!!  I grabbed my CO2 cartridge to fill up my tire and be on my way.  The tire inflated immediately, but then all the air came shooting right back out the valve.  I had somehow broken the valve on the tire of my bike!  

It was then that I guess I went brain dead, because if I had been thinking, I would have pulled out my spare tube, taken the wheel off, changed the tire, and prayed that someone would have thrown me an extra cartridge to blow up the tire, or maybe have a pump I could borrow.  It would only cost me maybe 10 mins. of time, but I never had any intention of winning - just finishing!

But, I stood there in the rain wondering what on earth to do now.  So, I thought, Well, I just have to go back.  I turned around and started the mile and a half back to the transition area.  Walking in cycle shoes is not comfortable.  As people passed me they asked: Are you OK? You got a flat?  Bummer!  So sorry! I was very embarrassed and frustrated thinking all that training down the drain.  

Add on top of that, I am wearing a "cute" jacket that I grabbed at the last minute leaving my house.  I didn't even bring a sports or running jacket in case of inclement weather.  No, I have the cute sweat jacket that is blinged out down the arms and on the zipper and hood.  Not very inconspicuous on a 6 footer.

When I got back to the transition area I fought off my tears of frustration, handed the bike off to Lane and he took it to the truck.  I then walked around to the back entrance of the transition area because I didn't want to trigger the timing chip and look like I had ridden that fast.  I didn't even ride my bike across the line for the end of the bike part. I put on my soaking wet brand new running shoes, and thought, "Hey, I paid for this race, I might as well at least get 2 of the 3."  So, I took off to run the 10K.

That's when I realized I was in trouble.  You see, suddenly I was WAY ahead of everyone.  Remember, the men all left first, and the women were about 1/2 hour after the first wave of men.  Imagine, all the front runners of the men are out there running, and there is this lady out there running too!!!  How in the he** did she get out here???  I know that's what they all were thinking.  I got some serious dirty looks, puzzled looks, and a bunch of fist pumps and Awesome!  You are kicking it!  Way to go!  comments.  

I now am trapped and don't know what to do.  I have taken off to run way too soon, and am freaking everyone out!  I regret leaving so fast.  I should have waited for my friends to finish the bike ride and then I could run with them.  Too late, I am out there on the road.  I consider just standing at the side for a while to let a bunch of people pass, but would feel totally dumb doing that too!  

So, luckily, I am about 2 miles out, and I come upon Beth's daughter who also got a flat.  She had made the bike loop one time, and was on her second round.  She didn't have a spare tube, pump or anything.  So I stopped with her for a while.  She called someone who was back at the finish line and asked them to come pick her up with the bike and then she would do the run.  I hung with her for a few minutes, then decided I just needed to go run and be done - who cares what anyone thinks?

So, I take off running again, and kick it into gear.  After all, if I am in first place of all the women, and up there with all these killer guys, I better look like I can run fast enough to be there! :)  More "way to go's! and good jobs!" follow.  Still lots of puzzled, disbelieving looks.  

We ran 3 miles out, and 3 miles back.  So, I had made the turn and was on my way back when I pass the first REAL girl going the other way.  I worry that she is going to think I am ahead of her, so I am trying to yell at her - you are in first place!  You are winning!  I'm sure she didn't hear or understand a word of it, so I decided I wouldn't try to explain the flat tire to anyone else I was running past.  I just decided to kick it home.

But then I realized I didn't want to be the first girl crossing the finish line.  That would be bad!  I needed some ladies to pass me!  So, I slowed up a touch, and 2 of the women passed me.  (As a side note - they write your age on the back of your calf - lovely - but I was happy to see the 2 who passed me were old like me! 38 and 39! :)

So once I got a couple ladies past me, I kicked it the rest of the way home and smiled and took in all the cheering as I crossed the finish line.  No one had to know I didn't even do the bike ride - it was OK.

Running to the finish

At least I thought it was OK.

About 20 minutes later they were doing the awards for the top winners in each age group.  Then, the man announces into the microphone, 

"And now for the moment you've been waiting for.  The overall winners of the women's Olympic tri.  In 3rd place, with a time of 2 hours and 19 minutes, from Mesa, AZ, KATHRYN COOK!!! "

What?  I panicked!  No!  He then says, "Kathryn Cook, is she here?"  I am trying to hide over behind some tent.  I make my way over to the girl at the computer who is manning the timing strip and told her there has been a horrible mistake.  In the meantime, Lane was nice enough to go up to the announcer and explain the little mix-up with the times, and they quickly found the REAL 3rd place winner.  Whew!  Seriously, how embarrassing!!!!!

Apparently I hadn't outsmarted the timing strips, and had crossed them somewhere, and it was still keeping my time.

Bummed out and cold

The only benefit of not being able to do the ride was I was done first, and got to watch everyone else cross. The funniest was watching Wolverine Beth attack Lisa 50 feet before the finish line.  Lisa was ahead of Beth most of the race - though by a tiny margin.  We saw them rounding the corner to come home, and Lane said, "Oh no, Lisa's in trouble - Beth is gonna eat her alive!"  Sure enough, Beth could smell the blood, and had to attack and win the sprint to the finish.  But, it was only by .6 seconds.  So really, it could be counted as a tie, right? 

They are so awesome!  They did it in 3 hours 4 mins.  I was planning to do it in 3 hours 15 mins, so I would have been a bit behind, but that's OK.  I just have to say I love my friends and how proud I am of them! 

Course that also just depressed me even more that I couldn't have such a triumphant finish and know that I had accomplished this major goal.  

So here's the thing.  Now I have to find another one to do!  You know I can't have that be it!  Good thing Lisa convinced me I will probably be doing one a year and I needed to buy the expensive wetsuit because I'll be using it! :)

(Beth, Kathryn, Lisa and Shelby - Beth's daughter who incidentally hardly trained at all, and beat the whole group!  Ahh to be young again!)

So, getting home, I decided I will drown my sorrows in training for the Shun the Sun 1/2 marathon in Mesa on Nov. 13.  That will have to make up for the bust of the triathlon.  That gives me 3 weeks to train.  5 days of which I will be in NYC though.  It is 13 miles.  I've never run more than 10 miles at one time in my life.  Hmm... should be interesting.  Funny thing is - one of my 5 goals for this year was to run a 1/2 marathon.  I was going to let the tri substitute for that, but looks like I will be accomplishing the original goal in the first place!  

So, it's all good. . .