Mama's Race Day and Jackson Being Cute

Good evening everyone!
Well, I ran my 5K today, and contrary to my very skeptical husband's opinion, I did very well. :) I came in under 30 minutes, which was my goal. It remains to be seen what my actual time was, because I was wearing a timing chip. It's a device that you strap to your shoelaces, and it automatically starts timing you when you cross the start line and then stops when you cross the finish line. It's handy for races like this where there are so many people that it took about 3 minutes just to get to the start line from where we were in the field of runners. Running is so high-tech these days! :) I really had a great time, because the course was beautiful and it was a great day to run. The sun was shining and it was nice and warm - just the way I like it when I run. We ran right beside the water of Tampa Bay next to the multi-million dollar homes. The wealthy folks were all out in force to cheer us on, which I thought was rather nice of them. :) The course volunteers played music to motivate us every so often along the run, and that was inspiring. Everyone knows that you run 5Ks for all the free stuff you get, and they offered plenty of free stuff after the race. The problem was that I lost the people I came with, so I couldn't enjoy any of the free stuff while searching for them. We finally met back up at the car. All in all, it was a wonderful day. The kids had a great time over at a friend's house, and they were exhausted when we got home. I think the next one I'm signing up for is the first weekend in April, if there is not one sooner. I just love the camaraderie of these races, and I love the diversity of people...some are there as a warm-up run to the marathon they'll do the next day, and some are there to challenge themselves in a way that they have NEVER challenged themselves before in their lives. I saw one lady with her personal trainer encouraging her every step of the way. I hope she made it. Oh - don't be alarmed at the photo of me; this is a phenomenon I like to call "running hair" which is similar to "Oma hair" in its crazy wildness. The hat is a pathetic attempt to tame its wildness. No offense to any Omas out there.

This evening, I had quite the comedian on my hands during dinner. Jackson was in rare form entertaining everyone, and I caught a couple of good shots before he quit. He's learned to say cheese for the camera, so he was trying to do that. He also learned that sticking out his bottom lip when I tell him no makes the girls laugh, so he tried that a couple of times. I tried to get a picture, but he switched into entertainment mode when he saw the camera. What a ham.