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The weekend has come and gone.



On Saturday I ran a solid 10 miles with Sebastian and Tony, the two guys I've been running with (from City of Hope) the past month or so. It was an excellent pick me up after the past couple of weeks. Last week I was ready to pack it in. But getting out there for the morning with these guys really put my head back on straight and now I'm geared up to run the 20 miler this week.



When I told everyone about my attempt at 18 and the conditions I was running in they all said I was brave just for attempting it. Sure enough, Robert had only positive things to say and felt I would have no trouble with the long run this coming weekend. Let's hope he's right.



The rest of Saturday was spent cleaning and straightening up the house in preparation for Jacob's party. We were all well spent by the end of the day and collapsed into bed at about 10 pm.



I am feeling a lot better than I did last week. I think the effects of traveling really took its toll on me.



Yesterday was Jake's party. Boy, what a good time that was. Having all of those kids running around, screaming and playing was certainly a joyful experience. Jake understood that it was his birthday, all right. He loved the games that Jules and Karyn came up with and, yes, totally dug opening all of his gifts. By the end of the day his face was covered with cake, so much sugar it was disgusting and I think a couple layers of dirt.



After the party Budd and Karyn went to look at furniture and Vill and Heather took off for a while, leaving Max, Zach and Rebecca at out house. Boy, was that interesting. Actually, all of the kids played great together. It's really nice that they're all of an age where they can play and get along by themselves.



I didn't run this morning, though I toyed with the idea last night. But I opted to stick with the 2-day schedule that Robert suggested. I want my legs fresh for the long run this week.



It's a little freaky that the marathon is less than a month away. This 20 miler is our last long run before we taper off. Has it really been almost 6 months since I started this journal? What could I have possibly had to say over all of that time?



Wandered through a brand new Borders Books that opened down the block from work. There were numerous Christmas displays. I'm really looking forward to the holidays this year. I think that once you have children the winter holidays take on so much more meaning. What I would really love is for our Christmas to be more joyous and less melancholy.



Every year it's hard not to think about 2 years ago when we learned about Jake's illness. It was literally the day after we had set up our Christmas tree that year. That was a HARD day. Very hard.



I think this year will be better. We won't be getting a tree until after we return from Hawaii. And that week after we get back is going to be so crazed that I hope we'll be able to suppress the sad feelings. Not sure if suppress is the right word. I want to be able to acknowledge that the feelings are there... but I don't want them to consume us.



Aloha.

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