"A" for Effort

It never fails, you finally make a decision to get back into shape. You wake up early to walk/run several days a week to be prepared for a 5K, and ultimately a half-marathon. You get super pumped about the 5K, even buying new running apparel for the big day. You load up the kids bright and early on that exciting morning and drive out to the race. You pull up to the race with that feeling of "I can do this.." and then you hear from the back seat....Blllluuuggghhh...and then "Eeeewwww Mommy, Chelsea threw up!"

Really?

Seriously?

Both of my kids are prone to car sickness? This isn't fair.

So, I put on my Mommy hat and went to work. I basically bathed my baby in a public bathroom. I'm not sure which was nastier, the puke or the bathroom. I eventually get her cleaned, myself together and everyone settled. My friend/running buddy Helen and her husband David were lifesavers by helping me with both kids. David agrees to watch J.K. and their son, while Helen and I planned to push Chel and their daughter in a double jogging stroller. As we are loading the girls into the stroller we realize that the race is starting...without us. We rush to get the girls piled in and take off, leaving David to hang with our boys. In the end, we finished in about 36 minutes, which wasn't too bad considering how our morning started.

As ridiculous as the morning was, the 5K was for a wonderful cause. It was the 3rd Annual Baby Steps 5K Memorial Run. The race supports The Amelia Center, a grief counseling center offering free services to those who have lost loved ones. The Center has been a wonderful source of hope for us over the years and I believe we are blessed to have a place like this in Birmingham. A big thank you to my friend Abby Nicholas for being one of the founders of this race. Everything she does is to remember her twin boys, Braden and Brody, and I'm so proud of her efforts and to have her as a friend. So regardless of how my morning started, it ended with lots of smiles and a few tears as we remembered those we love.