Rylee Renee Brennan

Although it hasn't quite hit my brother yet he is now a father. Rylee Renee Brennan was born this afternoon, 7 lb 1 oz.

Colin's wish that she'd come out with blond hair did not happen. Rylee got Marissa's hair but the Irish name.

At this point we don't have too many amusing stories. The green poop and countless activities taking place in the developmental cycle have not quite begun. So far Rylee seems relatively content, she's most likely exhausted from the hardest day she's had in her entire life.

As a reference, Marissa said the kidney stones were harder to pass.

Movie Review

Michael and I have seen quite a few movies over the past few weeks. Off season and vacation seemed to be a great recipe to get caught up on some movies. Here's a quick review of the more notable aspects of viewing pleasure...

Charlie Wilson's War:

This was good, gave us some insight into aspects of history that seemed to happen around us while we were growing up.

Kite Runner:

I read the book while we were in FL and decided I wanted to see the movie. I had that strange experience of being somewhat disappointed that the movie is never quite as good as the book. As crazy as it might sound, I was looking for that feeling b/c I so rarely have the chance to read a book just before seeing the movie. While watching the movie I assumed Michael would be disappointed and ask why we'd gone to see it. Instead, he said it was pretty good and I was reminded that reading the book does give you a different perspective.

We rarely watch movies in the a theatre (usually on DVD) but somehow we saw two related to Afghanistan in less than a week.

Peaceful Warrior:

This was a gift from Julie. Zane had recommended this movie months ago and I was very excited to receive it. They were correct, it was a good movie. I liked it so much I went over to half price books and got a Dan Millman book to read. The big message so far; throw out the trash and don't try. Sounds funny but I think I might finally be hearing the message Michael has been telling me for a while.

Chariots of Fire:

This was on TV when we went to Colin's house the other night. We watched it until the end too see the scene on the beach. Then we waited 3 min to see the beginning of the movie (it was playing back to back). We learned that the scene at the beginning and end is the same and all of us know know exactly when the dog begins to chase after the runners.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082158/trailers-screenplay-E11717-310

***I'd recommend all of the above movies***

Superbad:

Michael's sister got this for us as a present. There was one night when I agreed I could deal with watching the movie. What's that saying, "When you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all."

Perfection

Have you ever tried to get a picture at sunset? If you have you might have experienced the difficulties with lighting. The magnificence of the colors just doesn't seem to appear as you'd hope.

After many years of attempting to get perfect sunset pictures during our trips to Florida Michael decided he was going to get one. We took over 70 sunset shots that night. The majority of them were testing lighting, the others were attempts at getting the perfect picture of ourselves and his parents.

The one above was our favorite, hope you like it.

There have been a few times this year when I've been able to laugh about Michael and his secret perfectionist quality. In most other cases he's had a partner in crime. For example, perfect placement of the turn around cones at Galveston Half and perfect spacing of the pennant flags for Jack's Generic. These small details may be unnoticed by many but the guys setting everything up spend countless hours placing everything where it needs to be.

We Got a Dog

Okay, maybe this dog doesn't count. This one was abandoned in our room during our cruise. He came with a pile of chocolate so he was welcomed with open arms.

Cruise ship food isn't quite as good as it's fabled to be but that didn't stop us from eating about 10 deserts every day. It got bad when we started to preview the deserts before dinner. We'd try them at the cafeteria and order them again a few hours later. Good thing none of them was as good a chocolate bark.

There was one desert to write home about, chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick. We got that in Key West. My taste buds exploded with that, a perfect combination of fruit and chocolate. Mmmmmm !

30th B-day

At some point this summer I decided it would be fun to get an entire sheet of dark chocolate cookies and cream bark for my 30 th B-day. Michael & Kelly said I wouldn't be able to eat the entire thing alone, thus the idea of a big party.

Whole Foods told Michael this was the first time an entire sheet of bark had been ordered... I can't believe nobody else thought of this idea before.

Thank you to everyone for coming to celebrate my birthday with me. It was a bit chilly but I guess that's to be expected mid-December, I never imagined I'd have a birthday party outside.

For those of you who didn't get to see the slide show of my childhood....

http://picasaweb.google.com/av8rmichael/MichelleGrowingUp

Pictures from the party:

http://picasaweb.google.com/av8rmichael/MichelleS30thBirthday

14 seconds

Today was the Dallas White Rock Marathon...

When we woke up yesterday morning we had an email warning us of the weather forecast. At the time it predicted a low of 65 for today with 90% humidity. During our drive up yesterday morning that forecast made a huge change. This morning it was 50 at the race start and 40 by the time we finished.

I got pretty chilly and probably didn't have enough clothing but I was very thankful when I saw Charles and he gave me the J&A gloves off his hands in return for a soaking wet pair. My hands were warm for a few more miles but I was already in a world of pain by that point.

My foot hurt with every step and I was cold but I've got no excuses. Overall, I am actually proud of my efforts. I went out there with a plan and I stuck too it as long as I could. My body didn't agree with that idea and I was hurting for the majority of that race. But I dug deep and kept insisting to push through as much pain as I could take. My plan and my PR were gone but I was determined to run the whole thing and keep my promise to Michael, even if I blow up I will do everything in my power to be sure I hit my Boston time. I did that, I pushed as hard as I could today with what I had. I crossed the line spent, felt like I was going to faint for a while, and have been shivering for most of the day.

When I saw rich I asked him where Michael was and how he'd done. In true form Michael left everything on the course and dropped at the finish line. He'd been sick this week, woke up in covered in sweat and dehydrated and went out as hard as he could today. In the end he got a 16s PR, missing his Boston Qualifier time by 14s.

We plotted out our splits. The fluctuations based on mile follow the same general pattern but Michael's even splits exhibit a much stronger race than my death march to the finish. Mile 24 cost him the race or maybe it was the cliff shot he took when he forgot he had another Carbboom in his pocket. Either was he ran with everything he had and I couldn't be prouder of my husband.

Also, a huge congratulations to Meghan. She qualified for Boston for the first time ever.

I Pea-ed on the floor

We're 36 hrs away from the start of White Rock marathon...

This week there have been a few key thoughts on my mind;
1) no matter what the pace, it'll hurt for the last 10K. --> push hard and smile
2) everyone has stress before a race and at the end of the semester. --> try to shake it off


Today's plans got a little messed up since Michael was feeling a bit under the weather. We made some adjustments and ended up heading home early.

As I was in the kitchen cooking up food I accidentally reached over and grabbed the hot lid for the rice. I quickly dropped it and opened the freezer to grab something cold. Apparently the bag of peas I found was already opened and in my zealous motion peas flew out of the bag all over the floor. The big clump is easy to see but if you look closely you can see peas all over the place. Michael quickly remarked, "you just pea-ed all over the floor."

I get clumsy when I'm stressed. Even with the best intentions it's hard not to fret about an upcoming race. Thankfully I've got a lot of friends who have called to wish me well and a husband who still has a great sense of humor when he's not feeling great.

GO MG!