Early Morning Long Distance

I knew that I would need to plan my day down to the last minute today. I knew there were a few things that needed to be done. 1 - the boys needed to go to Webster to visit Santa (grandpa) 2 - Justin and I needed to get back home to help our friends move into their beautiful new home 3 - get the boys to Grandma's house for an overnighter 4 - Justin and I had to go to a Christmas Party and Becky and RJ's house 5 - I had to run seven miles. When I went to bed last night, I knew that today would be a marathon day (sorry for the pun, really) and by that I mean a day that would just keep going and going and going.

My feet are presently propped up on the footstool, and I am very happy to announce that I accomplished all this and more, on my marathon day. I got up at 5:30 and was on the treadmill by 6:50. At about 5 miles, my eldest boy came down the stairs and started cheering me on. At about 6 miles, my youngest boy joined his older brother and they both cheered me on to my 7 mile finish. I never thought I would make it, but with them sitting on the couch in front of me, still in their pajamas, I knew that I couldn't let them down.

By 8:00, all four of us were in the car heading toward what would be the funniest part of our day - the visit of Santa (aka Grandpa.) My husband's father was to be Santa at his local Elks Club (who, by the way, have agreed to donate money to PolioPlus!). With grandpa joining us for breakfast, and quickly ducking out to make the quick change into the jolly ole costume, you would think that our 3 and 5 year old boys would be sufficiently fooled. As 'Santa' entered the room, I watched my children turn their little faces to each other and say "that's grandpa!" Confused, they muddled through the ceremonial calling of names, accepting of presents, and sitting on the lap, etc... I watched my eldest son turn to my husband and say "Santa sounds a lot like Grandpa." Finally, to seal the deal, as we were walking out, Grandpa went into the coat room to grab his coat, followed a bit too closely by our youngest. When the Evan caught a glimpse of the red suit and white cuffs, I saw him poke his grandfather and say, "hey grandpa, there's your costume!" I am so glad I woke up at 5:30 and got my run in early so that I wouldn't miss this unforgettable exhibition of "yeah, I'm 3 years old BUT YOU CAN"T FOOL ME! "

Compared to that, the rest of my day was uneventful. I was on my feet the entire afternoon, and they are screaming about it right now, but I believe they would be screaming at me regardless. The 7 mile run wasn't exactly EUPHORIA, as Kari had said it would be, but it is satisfying to be on this end of the otherwise LONGEST distance I have ever run.