Grayce's Momma: WOW!...

...that is all I can really say right now. That really sums up my last week. Yesterday I had a small melt down...not a bad one though a really good one. I was so emotionally and physically drained yesterday that the second my head hit the pillow last night I was OUT! No kidding...I don't even remember laying down. So many things have happened this week. Things that contributed to my emotional melt down would be...

Not being home for a week. I am so grateful for everything that my mom and dad did for us last week. I was talking to a lady I work with about how we are both so close with our families that we don't even have to call in times of need. We can just show up and know that they are there to support us. It was very comforting knowing that. Many people don't have that, and I am so thankful and so blessed to have such a close family. They showed us AMAZING hospitality. They cooked us some wonderful meals (best Halibut I have ever had!), provided us with beds, warm showers, and a place to wash our clothes. As much as we appreciate all that they did for us, it is still good to finally be home. I guess it is kind of like being on vacation...you love being there, but it is always nice to be back at home in your own bed when you get there.

Friday night I stubbed my toe really bad...not sure if I broke it at that point or if it was the stress of standing on it all day Saturday that finished it off. It is definitely broken now though. You can tell by just looking at it. Last night it hurt so bad I could barely walk. Today it still hurts really bad, but I am just kind of getting used to it. I have tried to stay off of it as much as possible today, but it was kind of hard since today was really our first day back home and there was so much that needed to be done.

The reason for being on my feet all day yesterday...The USAF Marathon. This was my first year working the marathon and honestly I was not AT ALL prepared for the way it would effect me. Being on my feet all day and dealing with the sore toe was nothing compared to what it did to me emotionally. Honestly, I kind of felt stupid for getting so emotional...I didn't at the actual marathon but the second I walked into my mom and dads to pick up Grayce I sat down on the couch and just bawled for a good half hour. It was so amazing and so inspiring. I witnessed so many amazing things yesterday. I saw an at least 80 year old man (who didn't even look like he should have been standing let alone doing a marathon) cross the finish line. His poor wife had been standing waiting at our table (information table) for at least an hour worried sick about him . When she saw him cross the line she gave him the biggest hug ever. The amazing thing though...he finished a good three hours ahead of TONS of people. I had to shake his hand because it was so amazing. I also got to see a man who had a broken bone in his foot finish his 50th marathon...one in each of the 50 states. Now I have a broken toe, and can barely walk from the couch to my bedroom...I cannot imagine running 26 plus miles. Then there was the guy who was coming up to the finish line and grabbed his two young kids and held their hands and finished the race with his kids by his side. Talk about tugging at your heart strings. I have no idea how I held back the tears on that one (I teared up MANY times...these times listed as well as many others). Then there was the mom who finished and ran into the arms of her husband and two young boys and they all cried tears of happiness because they were so proud of her. So those were the good things that got me emotional. There were many not so good too...all ended well though so they ended up turning into good reasons. First, a little boy named Jacob got lost from his family and was sitting with me for a good half hour. I tried his moms cell phone many times but no answer (music was SO LOUD she probably never heard it). We paged her over the loud speakers...must not have heard that either. He was so upset. He couldn't have been much older than 7. All I could do was put myself in his mothers shoes and imagine what she must be going through looking for him. She did finally show up. Then there were all of the injuries. I knew there would be injuries, but not to that magnitude and for sure not to that severity. I expected maybe the sprained ankle and the occasional dehydrated runner, but was not at all prepared to see people drop like flies around me after they finished running. They would be walking just fine and the next second they were passed out on the ground. One man was so dehydrated that he was delirious. I have never seen anyone so out of it...he had no idea where he was or what his name was. When they tried to stand him up he fell forward, and would have hit the ground had there not been two medics there to catch him. It was CRAZY! They had to end up IVing him. Then there was the man who stood at our booth for three hours looking for his 15 year old daughter who was running the 10K. I ran back and forth from my booth to the medical booth at least a dozen times checking to see if she had been taken there. One time I was told that she was taken to Children's Medical Center with her mother. Well the man called his wife and she was at home...not his Megan. Finally after three hours she showed up. She had taken a wrong turn and ended up doing the FULL MARATHON!!! How crazy that was. She and her dad were both so proud of that accomplishment. He was so relieved that she was alright though. Those are the few things that happened yesterday that have stuck in my head. I can close my eyes and see each scene replay in my mind they impacted me that much. I have never been so inspired! EVER! It was amazing. I have decided that I am going to do the Flying Pig Marathon...not the full marathon but the 10K. I would LOVE to be able to do the full, but I am being realistic and starting with the 10K. Maybe, hopefully I can work my way up each year and eventually one day do the full. It is not until May 3rd of 2009, so I have 223 days to get my butt in shape. A broken toe kind of makes it hard to start working on that right away, but I will do it. I want to feel that feeling of accomplishment when I cross that finish line. Hopefully Eric will do it with me...he says he will. I think it would be a great adventure for us. I got the "Pig In Training" shirt, so I have to do it now! All in all I would say that this experience was a GREAT ONE! One that I am so glad I was a part of and I will continue being a part of (either by working it or volunteering for years to come).

Grayce is sick. She sounds HORRIBLE! Bad Cough, wheezing, congested. AWFUL! Her cough sounds like a dog barking. I just set up the Vick's vaporizer in her room a little bit ago so that it would hopefully help her tonight. If she is not better tomorrow I am going to take her into the doctor.

Wow! So this ended up being a really long post. I had so much to say. I will end with a few pictures of Grayce to make up for the lack thereof from last week. All were taken last week.