Van Gogh in Bloom at Phipps

My friend and I treated ourselves to a Mother's Day gift with a trip to Phipps to see Van Gogh in Bloom.

Phipps recreated some of Van Gogh's paintings in different rooms.

In my opinion, the recreation of Starry Night (below) was the most interesting.

No matter how many times I visit Phipps, the Orchid Room is always a delight. I think this is the first time I've seen bromeliads blooming.

I also love the butterfly room.

The spiral of this cactus was incredible.

These funny yellow blossoms were called Billy's Buttons.

The outline on these makes them look painted, but they are real.

Weekends in Ohio

We spent three weekends in Ohio in the past three weeks!

We had a great time playing MagiQuest and riding the waterslides at Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati/Mason.

Then we spent time in Columbus for a soccer tournament and went to visit the Ohio State University.

Then we headed to Cleveland for my dad's 70th birthday party and a surprise Cleveland baseball game!

2019 Goals Update - April

How are your goals going for 2019? April is over halfway done and I'm able to check some things off. 

2019 Goals

Things I can complete

• Run six races this year (As of April 23, I've done 2!)
• Finish my YA manuscript
• Finish the Rosalie manuscript - Revision completed, in process of sending this out
• Go camping 
• Co-Read a book with each kid - I read "The Great Brain" out loud to the middle and youngest on a car trip. That's 2/3 for sure. 
• Bake something new - We didn't have to bake mochi, but we made this for the first time!
• Go for a group run
• Attend a new conference 

Ongoing things I want to do well:

• Moms volunteering - doing a state level project
• SCBWI volunteering (Now I'm the RA!)
• Writing coach 
• Writing club - almost done our first ever session
• NHSC - my last season as Commissioner is underway

Stuff I will work hard on but can't guarantee: 

• Find the right agent
• Write more for the educational publishing market - Signed a contract March 1, 2019!
• Continue to write for Highlights - Achieved in Feb 2019!
• Continue to write for Cricket magazine 
• Sold a story to a new magazine, Smartypants Magazine for Kids

2019 Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run - DONE!

Another Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run is done! This was my ninth year and it was amazing in so many ways.

My training was on track all winter and I was injury free. I only had one bad cold that kept me down for a few days.

Race day was incredible. The trees were in bloom. The weather was 50 degrees at the start, no wind. This is me at the start waving at my friend. I'm still amazed she found me in the crowd!

I had a fantastic road trip friend. She got more great photos! (And she found a delicious way to celebrate post-race...)

I exceeded my fundraising goal!

I ran a pretty fast first six miles. I definitely struggled the last four and didn't go under 90 minutes like I hoped. That is such a frustrating mark for me. But I did crush the 95 minutes that I thought was going to be a tough goal. I finished in 91:08 and I'm telling myself to be proud.

We were able to celebrate with a delicious Mexican meal after the race. This strawberry margarita had a spicy sweet rim! Yowza!

So, I had a really wonderful weekend and I'm so grateful for everyone who helped make it possible. I'm taking a few rest days and then I'll be back running and working hard. Next year will be my 10th Cherry Blossom! I can't wait....

Fencing

A few years back, my middle son was watching the Olympics on television.

"What event is this?" I asked when I came into the room.

"I don't know what it's called, but they are hitting each other with electric sticks," he said. "And I like it."

You've probably already guessed he was watching fencing. I admit I don't know much about the sport, but I do love pretending I do by shouting "EN GARDE!" and whipping my imaginary foil at my opponent.

He wasn't begging us to try the sport, but he was interested. And he has a strong martial arts background which translates well to sports like this. But there wasn't a place close to us that taught fencing and our schedules are pretty busy.

We wanted to give him the chance to at least learn about the sport. My husband signed up for an alert from a local fencing club and we got lucky. Really lucky. They had an intro to fencing course only a five minute drive from our house!

It's really nice to only drive five minutes for a kid's activity. Soccer parents, I know you hear me.

So for the past 6 weeks he's been learning a huge list of parry positions, new phrases, trying out pistol grip and comparing it to French grip, putting on equipment, and learning how to win bouts.

That's right. He won his first bout. OH YEAH. EN GARDE!

2019 Goals March Update

I'm checking in on my goals for 2019. My writing goals are chugging along, but I need to push myself in some other areas. For instance, baking. What new thing should I attempt to bake?

2019 Goals

Things I can complete

• Run six races this year (As of Mar 10, I've done 1!)
• Finish my YA manuscript
• Finish the Rosalie manuscript - Revision completed, in process of sending this out
• Go camping 
• Co-Read a book with each kid 
• Bake something new
• Go for a group run
• Attend a new conference 

Ongoing things I want to do well:

• Moms volunteering - doing a state level project
• SCBWI volunteering (Now I'm the RA!)
• Writing coach 
• Writing club - almost done our first ever session
• NHSC - my last season as Commissioner is underway

Stuff I will work hard on but can't guarantee: 

• Find the right agent
• Write more for the educational publishing market - Signed a contract March 1, 2019!
• Continue to write for Highlights - Achieved in Feb 2019!
• Continue to write for Cricket magazine 
• Sold a story to a new magazine, Smartypants Magazine for Kids

Lucky Penny

Lucky Penny

a poem for superstitious runners

Halfway through a longish run, 

A copper flash in the sun.

Scoop it up, good luck is mine.

I'll make it to the finish line!