The Marathon.

'Hey barefoot guy, need some shoes?'

If you ever want a pick me up, some motivation...or to just completely restore your faith in humanity, go to a marathon, a triathlon, an ultra. You meet the most incredible people.

Sunday, May 5th meant it was time for the Pittsburgh marathon. This meant getting up at 4am so we could get downtown before the sun made an appearance, and me taking a nap in a parking garage for two hours because Ashley doesn't particularly care to be awake at that time of day.

Last year my Darling ran the race in about three and a half hours. That was when he was hoping to run it in four hours and he took a break half way through to drink a beer. This year he decided he'd run it hard and PR (personal record). He hoped for 3:20, maybe even 3:18 if he got lucky. Now as incredible and impressive as all of that is, it's not the point I'm trying to make with this post. When I was still waiting at the finish line and 3:30 went by, then 4:00 and he still wasn't there, I was wondering what the heck happened.

His friends and I tried tracking him, but all we found was that his timing dropped off halfway through the race. Then my phone rang from a number I didn't recognize. I answered to find my Darling on the other end, saying he had some problems but only had five miles left. About thirty minutes later (and five hours into the race), we see him practically sprint across the finish line, looking completely unscathed, in a brand new pair of running shoes.

For some reason, that neither myself or his cross country friends can comprehend, my Darling decided running the marathon in his cross country shoes would be a good idea, and maybe it was...until mile thirteen. By then his feet were so messed up he had blisters on his toes. He realized he couldn't finish in those shoes, took them off and trekked on for another two miles. That's when another guy running the marathon said, 'Hey barefoot guy, need some shoes?' The kid lived close by, pulled out his cell phone and made a call. Moments later his mom met my Darling on the street with three brand new pairs of running shoes, asked "What's your size?" and handed him a pair so my Darling could finish the marathon.

These days all you have to do is turn on the news and it's pretty easy to become bitter or always expect the worst. My grandmother doesn't turn it on anymore except to watch the weather, and I don't blame her. Don't get me wrong it's good to know what's going on in the world. We shouldn't bury our heads in the sand, but it sure would be nice if there was more promotion of positivity.

What happened with the kid, the mom and the shoes? We have no idea of their phone number or where they actually live. We have no clue how to give them their shoes back. So if you know a kid named Sam who lives around mile 15 of the Pittsburgh marathon route, we owe him a pair of running shoes...

And Then There Were Two.

The Insurance World. Holy cow, the insurance world. Six of us got hired in January to go up to Erie, PA for training. Now for a multitude of reasons there are only two of us left. Granted it is a time consuming, at times exhausting, "complex and confusing" company. Can you "appreciate that"? Oh phone scripts...

But in all seriousness it is pretty cool to help people plan their retirement giving them a road-map to follow. I've even gotten several perks and bonuses along the way including a shiny little trophy to sit on my desk for most applications written by a new agent, a couple of gas cards, two happy hours for writing annuities, and I'm not done yet folks!

In other news I actually received a tax refund this year that was more than $30. It only took until I was 27 for that to happen. I think I spent it responsibly:

• savings
• debt
• bills
• treating my Darling to sushi
• donating to a worthy cause
• a much needed hair cut (I'm ashamed I hadn't gotten one since November!!)
• a pair of high heels (because I am a 27 year old girl and one can only be responsible for so long!)

Alright, I think I'm done tooting my own horn.
It's been a crazy week. What positivity has been in your life lately?

Welcome to Adulthood.

I'm reminded of a Grey's Anatomy episode in which Meredith says, "We're adults. When did that happen...and how do we make it stop?" She talks about the hardships of responsibility and growing up, but she also talks about all the great things we get to do. (I'm pretty sure I remember getting to eat as much candy as you want, tequilla, shoes and sex being under the list of things that make becoming older worth it!)

Today after a short and not so great night of sleeping, there was grocery shopping, laundry sorting, smoothie making and kitchen clean-up, all before 10 am on a Sunday. Pretty impressive as far as my Sunday's go. Taxes were later involved, yippee for 1099's and all of their fun. Not to mention the lovely local tax in PA I'm still trying to figure out.... Then there's been the paying of the bills and balancing of the checkbook, cleaning house, folding and putting away laundry... Why did I want to grow up again?

But yesterday was Saturday. My Darling and I grabbed a case of Rolling Rock, piled some snow around it inside a cooler, loaded up my boss's Avalanche with homemade cookies and some rather frightening pickled sausages and headed out to our co-worker's farm in Washington to fire shotguns. The boys took out a bunch of clays while I decided to try my hand at stationary targets. I did pretty awesome if I do say so myself. I even shot a can that someone threw in the air on the first try! The boys set out some special targets to hit with the new rifle, which was pretty impressive.

Afterwards it was time to head back to town for some good food, games, loud music and dancing. Ok, I was probably the only one dancing. (Those boys need some lessons!) However, I'm pretty sure Meredith would be proud because the only thing missing was tequilla...

Talk about a way to wind down after a very long 55+ hour for all of us! Maybe adulthood isn't so bad.