Us

Us
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Psalm 127:1

Sunday, October 5, 2008

A furry friend, picnics, pumpkins and Marines

I guess this little fella' thought I needed some extra Halloween decorations as he made him self very comfortable in front of our house the other day. I was out front watering the flowers when I saw this huge hairy thing making his way across the front of our street towards my friends yard. I yelled for Dan that there was a REALLY BIG spider he needed to come get and of course my sweet fearful (ya' right) little girls come running barefoot to try and catch him. Me? I stood across the yard yelling at them that he was going to bite them. He did get mad and get really tall and start going after them at which point I threw Dan the camera and said,"quick, this is blogging material!" ;) I HATE spiders. Especially ones that have more hair than I do! ;) Thursday we made a lunch, hopped into the Jeep and headed to Oak Glen which is literally just minutes up the hill from us. We had a picnic and bought some yummy pumpkin pie mix for our bread maker then went and picked pumpkins. The girls had so much fun.
Here Dan is nice enough to pull the girls in the wagon out to the pumpkin patch since it was a long walk.
Last but hardly least Marines! Yup, you heard me right the United States Of America Marines.
About a month ago when I started really feeling better from the chemo and I was working out everyday I got the brilliant idea (that word is used loosely here) to join the boot camp challenge down in San-Diego and do my first race. So as not to leave anyone out I sucked four others onto our team of five and was really looking forward to it.

We decided to take a before picture in case one of us died. Above you see Ruth, Jason, Dan, me and my sister in law Suzanne. Basically what they do is open up the Marine training base in San Diego one day out of the year and you pay actual money to go run your butt off and go through there obstacle course all the while being screamed at by Marine drill instructor's. I seriously thought I was going to die. No lie. I am NOT a runner. I never have been and try as I may probably never will be. I look stupid running and am slow, slow, slow! But being screamed at so close and loud that spit is hitting you in the face has a way to keep you moving. I felt like I was going to throw up. I prayed for God to come back, offered to pay a Marine to carry me, tried faking a heart attack, I did it all and no such luck. After it was over everyone kept asking if it was fun and I don't know that "fun" would be the first word that comes to mind. I am proud of myself and would do it again next year. I mean I am just getting the feeling back in my legs as I type so it may take me that long to recover. :)

Here are the three of us girls right after the race. See how red my face is!

Ruth, Me & Suzanne I mostly wanted to prove to myself that I could do this. That this stupid disease was not going to get the best of me and that I could still push myself to physical limits. I did all of those things I think. Physically I am sore but I don't feel as bad as I thought I would. The funny thing is for whatever reason the Marines did NOT like me and kept ganging up on me. When my push ups weren't good enough or right I had to do more, when I winced in pain they screamed at me for smiling. When I was going over the wall one jumped on top and screamed to go faster and some of his spit hit me in the face and he started screaming,"YOU WANNA' WIPE THAT OFF?? WELL DO YOU!!!!!" Ummm yes, but that's ok I'll just leave it cause it was not worth more push ups. :) A little dialogue to give you an idea of what my day was like. Oh and my husband would stay back with me (cause I was the slowest) until the Marines would start closing in and then he'd say, "bye honey!"

Marines: "WHAT ARE YOU SMILING AT?"

ME: "NOTHING SIR!"

Marines: "YES YOU WERE! WHAT'S SO FUNNY? YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME?"

Me: "NO SIR! I WAS NOT SMILING I AM IN PAIN SIR!!!!"

MARINES: "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN PAIN YET!!"

Me: "OK, SIR!!! WAAAHHHHHH!!!"

All the while they were running on my heels. I even had a bloody foot when I got done. They better never let me find out who stepped on me. ;) He,heeee! I think I will start training for next year. WHO-YA!!!!!!

10 comments:

MLasch said...

Oh my GOSH! I would be freaking out if there was a spider that big and hairy anywhere near me!

I can't believe you did the Marine thing. I mean, maybe if you were someone who loved the physical push, but you sound like me with the hating to run thing. Come to think of it... maybe that IS the only way I'd ever put myself through that. I need a Marine yelling at me!

DonnaG said...

You are absolutely NUTS! I mean crazy doesn't even come close to what I was call you. Holy smokes Christy, what in the world were you thinking? Glad you made it out ok.

Tell me one thing... which was scarier? the spider or the marine?

Jessica said...

Come on Christy, you can go to boot camp for the day but you can't pick up a measly little spider??? ;) Aren't tarantulas harmless?

That's awesome that you did the marine thing, looks like fun :) I always like a challenge.

Crystal said...

Okay, not my idea of a fun Saturday afternoon. But I'm proud of you :). You go girl.

And love the spider story. Go Dan.

Erica Young said...

Okay that spider is huge and I would have stayed back with you. Spiders and I don't get along yet I live in the country. Go figure!

Congrats on the marine boot camp. I would have tried it also just to see how far I could make it. That did sound like fun, but like you said I don't know if fun's the word.

Glad you are feeling better and was up to the challenge.

Jeff and Aimee said...

Hey Christy-
Yep, that's me. I'll look for you to introduce myself in person.
Is it wrong that I was laughing out loud at your description of your day at the Marine Base? It sounds like an overwhelmingly difficult experience, but somehow, I couldn't stop laughing. You PAID to be demeaned and spat upon? You are one tough chick. I love to exercise, but if Marines were screaming at me, I think I'd curl up in a ball and suck my thumb at the base of the climbing wall. Anyway, thanks for introducing yourself here in blogdom and hopefully I'll meet you "for reals" soon.
Aimee

Christy said...

To answer everyone's question, the spider is more scary to me than the Marines. Pleeaassseee, I have children. If I really wanted to I could have made one of those Marines cry! he,heee! :) And yes Donna I am NUTS!!!!

Diana said...

You're a crazy lady!

Rhonda said...

Ok - my spider doesn't even come close to comparing with yours. But in my opinion, Tarantulas are a different species. Aren't they supposed to live in the desert? At least yours isn't as messy as mine because Tarantulas don't spin webs, they live in burrows under rocks and such. Hey you can consider it science for Morgan.
And as for the Marines - yes you had me laughing, but also beaming with pride that my friend made it through the day after all that you have dealt with in your body. And by the way, Ruth's face is almost as red as yours.

Eileen said...

And you want to do bootcamp again next year because... (???)