I just got back from Paullina, Iowa, where we spent Thanksgiving with the Lundquists. Leah’s (my now sister-in-law-in-law, if that’s a thing) parents have a farm and home there. We had an awesome time. It was great to get away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago for a few days. Laura - Leah’s mom - seemed to always be handing me something different to eat. I was stuffed before Thanksgiving arrived at which time I continued to stuff myself with still more delicious food. During the day there were hunting, farm tours, ATV rides, and ice-skating. At night we’d gather around and play chinese checkers, Catch Phrase, or Settlers of Catan. It was non-stop and it was great.
Starting Wednesday night when Rebecca spontaneously began doing pushups, I decided to attempt a goal. 50 push-ups was surprisingly easy this time for some reason. I may have to come up with a more difficult goal there. I think Rebecca did 50, as well, by breaking for a few minutes in between sets. Stephen cranked out 24. At least he can run…
Thursday morning we headed to Orange City bright and early for a 5k race. I had planned on just cheering on the speedsters but Leah knew about my goal of a mile and suggested I do the last mile of the race. Why not? It was a very small 5k - about 170 people - and it felt strange when Stephen dropped me off with my crutches at the 2 mile marker. It was something like 18 degrees, I was in the middle of a deserted subdivision, alone, at 7:20 in the morning. The race started at 7:30 and I knew I was going to take quite a while so I started going… up the hill??!? Okay so it was kind of on a whim but I hadn’t really planned on hills in my first mile attempt. By “not sitting” I had meant that I planned on leaning against walls as needed, too. So much for that! I turned on the iPod Shuffle and proceeded up the hill, singing along to any songs I knew. Good times.
After quite a few songs, I had left the subdivision and continued up yet another long hill. Well, it was probably a quarter mile but that’s a long way for me to go uphill. I kept wondering when I’d see some of the runners and suddenly one flew by me. Then another. Then Stephen and Rebecca. Not long after that I saw Leah. They were all encouraging and I realized I wasn’t responding to them at all in kind. Whoops. Sorry guys!
In what seemed like 2 minutes, Rebecca was walking towards me, clearly having finished already and now with a jacket and other warm clothes on. She hates the cold so I told her to go inside. She wouldn’t. She said her knee hurt a little and she didn’t feel that great. Stephen showed up shortly afterwards and said he felt like puking and that he was out of shape. Then Leah showed up. I turned off my music to enjoy my awesome support group and kept huffing it up the hill. Step… step…(don’t fall)… step… step… (don’t fall)… I made it down an awkward hill in and out of a ditch before crossing the road. The church was well within my sites but it seemed a mile away. Then we suddenly realized we were coming up on the 3 mile marker. 1 mile!
I went on for another tenth of a mile or so to the church parking lot where Leah ran to steal the finish line string of flags and held it along with Stephen so that I could “bust” through it. I almost fell down when I hit it! haha… I think if it had been an actual finishing ribbon I would have just bounced off of it and fallen down. I achingly got into the car after that. But it was time for the awards, so I begrudgingly got back out of the car and walked in to check out who won, along with the rest of the crew. They thought they did so bad… Rebecca was 1st in women, Stephen was 3rd in men, and Leah was 3rd in her age group! Awesome day and a great excuse to chow down on tons of Thanksgiving food.
This is the 3 mile marker where I completed a full mile without sitting. It took me about an hour.
Friday we shot clay pigeons that were slung out of the back of a truck. It was awesome! Rebecca shot a gun for the very first time. She liked the shotgun and proceeded on to the pistol, which she said she liked better since it was so light.
Saturday morning the guys headed out early to go pheasant hunting. I was able to join along by riding on an ATV. It was automatic, so no footwork needed. And it was a great stretch for my groin and quads. I’m not used to straddling anything with the way my legs lock together all the time.
Kent had grown Sorghum in a couple patches, which the pheasants apparently loved to eat. I clipped one bird before Kent shot it down, then later shot all the feathers off another which still somehow flew away. Scott bagged one, as well. I had never been pheasant hunting before. Pretty fun - especially the use of Molly, Scott’s dog. She would rustle out the birds and then when one was shot down she’d retrieve it. Very cool!
All in all, goals were accomplished and a few firsts were experienced. And most importantly, we had a ton of fun.
I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving, too.
Chip
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