A New Chapter

People do crazy things when their kids start leaving the nest. Men buy sports cars that make it obvious they are having an identity crisis, women buy shoes, or maybe sign up for a mud run when they've never in their life done anything remotely athletic. Feeling the need to start a new chapter in our life, my husband and I signed up for a mud run. He has experience in being athletic. He used to race motocross professionally, then he moved to triathlons and bike races. Since his hip replacements (yes, that's suppose to be plural), he hasn't competed in anything except getting a word in edge ways in our conversations. Me? Well, I do scrapbooks, and if there were a category of Olympic shoe shopping, I'd be a gold metal winner. So, for me to do a mud run is a little extreme but I'm trying to break out of my shell, re-define my life and prove to myself I can do more than bake cookies, do laundry, and freak out at the really bad (or sometimes just odd) teenage/young adult decision making kids are prone to. I'm very used to answering the phone and hearing.... "Now Mom, don't freak out but...." or "I've got something to tell you that's probably going to really upset you, so don't freak out." The funny thing is, they've always said that, but I never have really freaked out about things. Well, there was that one time my son told me he wanted to have his wedding rehearsal dinner at the bowling ally, but it worked out amazingly well even though I did totally have a meltdown in the beginning when he told me. That was the one conversation he really should have prefaced with... "Now Mom, don't freak out but" but he didn't.

Anywho.... Saturday is the big race day (or in my case, just pray that I finish day). Originally the weather was suppose to be normal October weather, but then some moron must have sent Murphy (as in Murph's Law) a memo that I had indeed signed up for the run and so, as is Murphy's typical behavior, he decided "Hey, let's have a cold front move in that weekend." The last weather forecast called for a chance of rain with the high in the high 40's and the low in the low 40's. If you're cleaning house Saturday (as is my typical habit), the weather will be pleasantly crisp. If you're doing a mud run first thing Saturday, it's going to be freakishly wet and extremely cold. But hey, I'm going to roll with the punches, put my big girl panties on and make like a Nike commercial and just do it!!! Consider it another contribution in the fight against global warming.... Again Al Gore and Polar Bears, you are welcome. Glad I could be of some assistance.