Wordless Wednesday

 

Cheese pull on a mozzarella stick from Chili's.

Tesla met our friend's dog.

Boootanical Garden

Carter is very excited about his Halloween costume.

I had a sub for Elise's meet and when I came back one of my students had made a bed for my stuffed animal.

State Fair

Elise's last cross country meet in Coweta.

Elise's First Cross Country Season

I was so excited when Elise told us she wanted to join the cross country team when she started middle school. I enjoyed watching her practices over the summer and when we arrived at her first meet, the atmosphere was exactly what I remembered. She spent her first season figuring out how to pace and race as well as forging new friendships with her teammates. I joked she watched me run too many marathons because she would run along smiling and waving at all her friends and family who were spectating. She was a joy to watch and I'm excited to see how she progresses with running over the years. She said her running goals for the future are to run a sub-7:00 mile and to run a 5k without walking. Those are both realistic goals I think she can achieve reasonably soon. She said she doesn't want to take any time off running after her cross country season is over and just start training for a 5k. She has her eyes set on running the Gorilla Grind 5k (which is next weekend) without walking and, if not at that one, the Turkey Trot 5k.

8/27- The Mohawk Park Race was originally scheduled to be 1.5 miles, but due to extreme heat, they adjusted it to a one mile course. It was 97* with a feels like temperature over 100* for the race. She finished in 7:53 and was 142nd out of 182 runners.

9/17- The O'Brien Park Race was also a feels like temperature over 100* and it was 1.5 miles. Elise finished 103rd out of 145 overall with a time of 14:31.

9/22- The Bishop Kelly Race was her first 2 mile race. It was 86* for the race with a warmer feels like temperature, but seemed so cool compared to the other races! Elise finished in 19:17 and was 152nd out of 201 overall.

9/24- The 2nd O'Brien Park Race was a meet hosted by a different team than the last race here. It was neat to have the girls run the same course again a week later and see how much faster they'd gotten in just one week. It was cooler for this race than the one at this course a week before with a temperature at the start of 88*. They had just raced a couple days before (at Bishop Kelly) and it was their first 2 mile race at that meet, so I figured they may be a bit tired for this race. It was 1.5 miles like the last time they ran here. Elise took almost a full minute off her time, finishing in 13:35! She was 102nd out of 156 girls.

10/2- The Claremore Race was another 2 mile race. It was much cooler for this one at 68* at the start. It was also at 11:00am which helped! The other races were all around 4:00 or 5:00pm. Elise turned the last corner of the race and asked me if she was halfway yet. I told her she was almost done and pointed at the finish line. She said, "Oh no, I have way too much energy left," and took off sprinting! She still managed a 2 mile PR in 18:55, finishing 223rd out of 307 runners.

10/6- The Coweta Race was the last meet of the season and finished with a 2 mile race. Girls started at 9:30 and had great weather with a starting temp of 61*! The race narrowed really quickly and Elise got boxed in and had trouble moving around. By halfway she seemed to have worked her way up and was looking good. When I saw her again with about half a mile to go, she wasn't smiling anymore. She worked hard and finished in 19:57 which put her 121st out of 153 runners. Most the girls ran a bit slower at this race because the course was the most challenging one they'd run so I didn't think much of her time being slower. Elise was on the ground by the time I got to her and seemed upset. Every other race she finished happy and ready to cheer the boys on. I wasn't sure if she was disappointed in her race, if she was sad it was the last meet, or what. When she finally got up, she was leaning into me with her face into my chest. She never really said much about what was going on. When I got her off the bus after school she said her stomach and throat were both hurting. She said before the race her stomach hurt, but she thought she was just nervous about it being her last race. I think she was maybe fighting off a little bit of something and that's why she didn't have as strong of a race, but she still ran well! We'll see how she's feeling in the morning. She may be getting sick.

What I Read: September

September always brings fall feels and gets me excited for witchy and spooky reads. I got into some this month and am saving others to enjoy in October.

Books:

• The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa- I enjoyed the first 2 labyrinths and then the story just felt like more of the same. I got a bit bored with it.

• The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi- This book was a roller coaster of emotions. I just read the first line of the dust jacket before deciding it sounded like a good read, so I wasn't fully prepared for everything this book had to offer. Reading the full description now, it didn't give away some of the surprises the book brings as you read, so it wouldn't have made much of a difference had I read the whole thing.

• Eradication: A Fable by Jonathan Miles- This was an interesting premise and I really enjoyed the book. the ending was a bit over the top and made me think of Where the Crawdads Sing. I understand the point he was trying to make with the ending though.

• We Call Them Witches by India-Rose Bower- This was so dark and creepy. It start off really strong, then faded in the middle, and pulled me back in at the end. It was not about the kind of witches you would imagine. I was prepared for that because I actually read the book blurb on this one. I picked it at an adult book fair at the library. They had some ARCs there and you got to pick one to keep.

eBooks:

• The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke- I read the first 3 sentences of the book description and immediately put the book on my want to read shelf. I assumed by the blood dripping down the cover, there was death involved, so I was a bit surprised when I made it over halfway through the book with all the writers still alive. It all happened so quickly, but even then I enjoyed the story leading up to it as we learned about the characters. This was a fun read.

• An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton- This was an enjoyable book. I liked the story and their romance. It was a bit frustrating with how she was expected to put her whole life on hold, but he did whatever he wanted. I know that was so typical of that time period, but it was still very frustrating to read.

• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro- I liked the ending of the book and how it wrapped everything up. I just got a bit bored throughout the book and it was so strange. It started strong and finished strong, but I thought the middle of the book was a bit boring.

Audiobooks:

• Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver- I loved each individual character's story and how they were connected to each other. The ending felt really abrupt to me and I swore I missed something so I went back to re-listen, but I hadn't. I didn't want the book to be over yet!

• A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan- I loved this book! I was in the mood for something witchy and this fit the bill perfectly. I also loved the historical part of the book.

• Burn Down Master's House by Clay Cane- This book packed one hell of a punch. Think Inglorious Bastards, but where slaves get vengeance on owners rather than people getting vengeance on Hitler. It was gory and gave the endings you always wish these stories could have. I can't stop thinking about it.

• The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell- I really enjoyed this one. There were so many twists and turns. I'd think I maybe had it figured out and then there'd be a new twist. When Jewell is on, she's so good!

• Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty- I went into this with low expectations because I loved Big Little Lies so much, I didn't think a sequel could live up to it. I also didn't know how she could bring another thriller from the same characters without it being over the top. I was surprised to find this book wasn't as much of a thriller as Moriarty's typical, but was very funny in parts. I found myself laughing often throughout the book. I loved how everything tied together at the end. I absolutely loved getting to visit these characters again and seeing how they'd grown over 10 years.

• The Broken Girls by Simone St. James- I got a bit bored with this book. I went into it expecting more with ghosts and was let down by that.