Ray of light

Did anyone happen to hear that Dave absolutely killed it yesterday in the marathon? At 3 hrs. 43 minutes, he destroyed his personal best by 17 minutes, and he ran a full 40 minutes faster than he did last fall. Not to mention that he did it all in the pouring, freezing rain. As Dave observed at the finish line, "When you run faster, it's over faster." Today he is justifiably basking in great feelings and somehow that has propelled him to make it through the day without a single complaint except for the occasional wince. I would say this could be the beginning of a whole new marathon career, except that he's sworn off marathons for a while. Probably for the best. Oh, and I don't have any pictures because it was pouring so hard it wasn't even possible to put down the umbrella long enough to take a picture.

Well, OK, I do have one picture. This is from the lobby of the Georgian Hotel, which graciously opened its doors to the chattering runners, and I took this shot after Dave had dried off and changed into warm clothes. After I took this picture we looked all over and could not find any explanation for what would have cause this glowing white orb to appear on his chest. I actually believe it is some sort of otherworldly mystical spirit that he carried with him, allowing him to finish the race. I am willing to entertain alternate explanations, but that's what I'm going with for now.

Yesterday afternoon after a little R & R we all packed up and went over to Katie's 40th birthday party. Katie is Luke's best friend Shane's mom, and her vision for the perfect party is something like what Dave's would be: a house full of happy kids, and a taco truck pulled up to the front of the house. Even though he had every right to bow out, we had no problem luring Dave "You Had Me At Taco" to the party.

The front room at Katie's house has been totally converted to kid use: The floors are covered with mats, and there is a swing, rope ladder, set of rings, and a hammock all hanging from the ceiling. Oh, and tons of toys too. At any given point during the party it was quite literally a three-ring circus, with kids hanging from the ceiling and flying through the air. Toward the end of the party the boys turned on the CD from Luke's birthday and all of a sudden an elementary school version of slam-dancing broke out. They were all jumping around, singing along, happily bouncing off each other, and for a few moments it was total kid paradise. When we got home, Luke told me, "Shane and Ty and I are going to be rock stars. We're going to have a band called 5-7-7 because Ty is 5 and Shane and I are both 7."

The day before I had taken Zach to the nursery to buy a plant for Katie for her birthday. After we found a pretty lavender plant for her, Zach noticed a small dead plant in a half-gallon container under one of the tables. He immediately glommed on to the idea that it was the perfect present for him to give to Katie. So he carried it up to the checkout counter, they shrugged and gave it to us for free, and then Zach proudly carried it home. All day long he talked about his present for Katie, and how it had "grey sticks, brown leaves, and green balls" (in the potting soil). When it came time to leave for the party, he made it clear that he wasn't going anywhere without his special present for Katie.

Now if it had been for almost anyone else, I would have tried to talk Zach out of it. But the great thing about Katie is that 1) she is the kind of person who would totally love it; and 2) if anyone could bring it back to life, she could. When we got there, I gave her a little warning about the d-e-a-d plant she was about to receive. But Zach wanted to give it to her in person, so he did, and she showed as much joy about that present as any she had received that day. "It looks just like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree!" she cried happily, and thanked him profusely. She thinks she can bring it back to life, and frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if she did.